Shadow of a Man
by xboxbabe
Summary: Are Stephanie and Ranger strong enough to fight for their love when Stephanie lands in a heap of danger and is forced to become a completely different person from the woman Ranger fell in love with? Can Ranger come to terms with himself through it all?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_A/N: This is a newly updated chapter one. Thanks for the reviews and encouragement. Let's see where this goes!_

* * *

I took my key and slid it into the lock, turning it slowly until it clicked. Reaching inside my jacket pocket, I grabbed a custom tool I always kept with me for the purpose of unhooking a door chain. It was a wire encased in an L-shaped metal sheath that telescoped on one end when I slid a hidden lever on the handle. On the other end was a hook that was the perfect size to grip the slider on the door chain. Slipping the hook through the door, I felt the loop catch the slider and pushed the lever. The chain dropped off and fell dangling against the door. I was in. I retracted the lever and folded up my tool, sliding it back into my jacket pocket.

Silently, I opened the door and stepped into the apartment, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. The smell of her apartment tantalized my senses. _Get a grip, Carlos_. I steeled my nerves and walked to her bedroom. She and I had some things to discuss. When I reached the door, I pushed it open, bracing myself against the eminent assault to my senses; her smell, her form, the way her eyes travel down my body, the way her tongue darts out to caress her lips … I gave a firm shake of my head to clear it. _You're not making it easy on yourself._

I stepped inside her room and saw immediately that she wasn't here. The realization hit me in the gut. Her chain was in place. I walked over to her bedroom window and found the window closed and locked from the inside. I checked behind the door, in the closet, and in the bathroom, and then I checked the lock on the kitchen window and found that it, too, was locked. Tamping down my emotions, I grabbed my cell phone.

"Boss." Tank's voice came across the line.

"She's not here. Is her car in the lot?"

"Her purse says she's there. Her car is in the lot. Do you need a team?" Tank asked. I heard him clicking away at the computer and made my decision.

I felt a twinge in my chest. I didn't like this twinge and I got it far too often where she was concerned. "Yeah. Code Red. We're going to find her. Tonight." I thought I heard Tank sigh. "Did you have a comment?"

"No, sir."

"Mobilize Alpha Team."

"Right away, sir." Tank disconnected. I hit the speed dial key for her cell phone and heard it chirp in the bedroom. Following the noise, I walked in and switched on the light. The scene nearly sent me into a frenzy. I took a few moments to calm down my emotions with slow, deep breaths. _In through the nose, out through the mouth_.

Her bag was on her bed and there was blood all over the floor. Not enough that I thought she could be dead, but enough that I felt she could be soon if we didn't find her. I speed dialed Tank again as I left her bedroom.

"Boss?"

"Mobilize Beta Team, as well."

"Sir?"

"Are you questioning my decision, soldier?" I asked harshly.

"No, sir. Team Beta is mobilized." He was angry with me. Tough. I had bigger problems than a moody Tank. He was on desk duty following an accident that left him with a sprained ankle. He does me no good out in the field when he can't run.

I took another deep breath through my nose and released it out my mouth and dialed Morelli. He answered on the third ring. "What?"

"Stephanie is missing."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"No, I'm telling you this for fun. Stop wasting time. I'm at her apartment and she's not." I hesitated for a fraction of a second. "There's something else."

"What?" I decided he needed to get a handle on his emotions. Maybe he had more at stake than I did. I doubted it, but I wasn't one to speculate on just where their relationship was headed.

"There's blood all over her floor. Her apartment was locked up tight, chain in place, windows locked on the inside. This looks bad. Professional." A quick thought entered my mind about some bad enemies of mine that had this capability, but I stored it away for later. There was no purpose in harming her for _those_ particular enemies.

"Shit," Morelli said. He sounded as if he was on the verge of a heart attack.

"I have two teams out looking for her, but I think we need the police here. This is a crime scene now. I've left minimal contamination by opening up her apartment…"

"You mean breaking and entering," He interrupted.

"I have a key," I explained. I'd let him figure that one out on his own. "Like I said, my guys are out looking for her, but this place needs to be processed."

"How'd you get her chain off?" He asked.

"How do _you_ get her chain off, Morelli?"

"I wait for her to unlock it or I break it," He said.

"You're not me." That was all he was getting. "Move on."

"Any ideas about what happened?" Joe asked. I heard the sound of a door closing and figured he had just left his house.

"Do we have all night? Her most recent case was Jack Nightshade, but I don't see him as someone who could pull this off," I said, exiting the apartment and locking it. I looked down at the floor in the hallway. Droplets of blood dotted their way to the stairs. My heart thunked in my chest. "Hey, I have blood in the hall and in the stairs."

"Christ," Morelli said weakly. "I have to call this in. See you in ten."

I followed the blood droplets down the stairs. They became larger as I descended and my emotional control flew out the window. This was a lot of blood. Too much blood. I set my jaw and continued around the corner and gasped when I took in the scene at the base of the stairs.

A body was lying in a pool of blood. A woman with brown curly hair, face down in her own blood. She was naked except for a watch on her wrist, Stephanie's watch. I didn't have any reason to believe that it wasn't her when I saw the small mole on her lower back. How many women could possibly have that same mole?

My chest began to burn. I heard the sirens in the distance, but they were too late. I knew that I couldn't touch her, but I didn't want her to be lying there on the floor like that when they arrived. In an effort to keep myself detached, I headed back up the stairs and around the corner so I didn't have to look at her.

The first cop to arrive was Eddie Gazzara. He had been following the blood trail toward the stairs. Normally, the cops took the stairs instead of the elevator, but Morelli must have alerted them not to use the stairwell. I put a hand to Gazzara's chest and looked him in the eye. "Oh shit," he whispered. He passed me and headed down the stairs.

A few moments later, Morelli came barreling down the stairs and stopped to look at me. I gave him a small shake of my head and he paled. He took a moment to compose himself and then started trudging down the stairs slowly. I watched as Gazarra came back around the corner up the stairs, his face red, his eyes wet, and a hand pressed to his stomach.

Morelli took one look at Gazarra and faced the wall, placing a hand against it for support and taking several deep breaths. As more blue and whites came down, he turned around with his cop face in place. "No one is going down there until the ME gets here."

A suit I recognized as Kyle Hamer moved to bypass Morelli. "Hamer, I'm asking you out of respect for me to wait. I don't want anyone touching the scene until the ME gets here." His voice hitched and for a brief moment, I felt connected to Morelli. We both felt the same way about the same woman. We both just lost a part of our lives that we will never get back. And both of us would struggle to put them back together after tonight.

Hamer nodded. "I'll wait."

The whole scene bothered me. Her apartment was locked up tight and the blood almost seemed staged. I turned to Morelli and he was looking at me. Our eyes locked and, wordlessly, we went down the stairs together.

"Do you think it's her?" He asked just before we rounded the corner.

"It could be. I didn't want to touch the scene and contaminate it. If it is her, I want to know who to kill," I said quietly. I didn't think mentioning the mole was a good idea.

"I didn't hear that," Morelli said, putting his hand up to silence any other incriminating words I might spew.

We rounded the last corner and he stared at the body wordlessly. "Oh my God," he said. His jaw was set and he was looking down at his feet struggling for control. After a few moments, he said, "I'm with you. I don't want touch the scene."

Dr. Bragden, the chief medical examiner, rounded the corner five minutes later with a man carrying evidence collection equipment. They both stopped and looked at the carnage. He placed a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Okay, Joe. Maybe we should get Hamer down here."

"No one is going to do this but me," he said, a warning in his voice.

Bragden nodded. "Okay, let's do it, then."

Morelli turned to dismiss me. "Don't even think about it," I said. He turned back to the scene.

My phone chirped. "Report."

"Her car is in the lot. No tampering." Ram's voice came through. I rubbed my hand over my face. "Tell everyone to stand by for further instructions."

"Got it, boss."

The ME looked at the scene, measured the blood pool, and instructed his assistant to take pictures here and there. He checked through her hair and inspected her body from head to foot. Occasionally, another picture was snapped. Soon he was finished with the examination and needed to see the front.

Morelli snapped on some gloves and helped him turn her body over. I was praying not to recognize the body. I was praying that I would see a face I didn't know. I got an answer to one of my questions as soon as the front was revealed. I didn't recognize the body. The word "WHORE" was carved out onto her stomach with a knife and she had an old healed scar that ran from her left shoulder to her navel.

What I didn't see was a face, but I didn't need to see one to know that this wasn't Stephanie. This body was staged to look like Stephanie. Whoever put this girl in the stairwell wasn't banking on two men who knew her body watching the examination. I had relief zinging through my veins, but a new worry popped up.

I grabbed my phone and dialed Tank. "Mobilize Alpha and Beta. No stone unturned."

Morelli turned to look at me, his eyes hard as steel. "You know this isn't her."

I nodded.

"Why?"

I smiled. "She doesn't have a scar like that."

His eyes narrowed. He decided to drop it for now. It was a good thing. I was on edge over Stephanie and not in the mood for a fight.

"Given the size of that scar, I'd say that is Michelle Carney. She used to run with Joey Delucci," I offered. "But that's just my opinion. You'll have to use your own methods of confirming who she is, I'm sure."

I turned to leave, but called back to Morelli. "Will you update me on her apartment?"

"Yeah," he said. He didn't trust me, but I could see he was damn glad I was looking for her, too. As if he had a choice.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_A/N: For those of you who have read chapter one, I went in and made a few changes, nothing major ... just in case you want to re-read it._

* * *

I left Morelli to sort out the mess with the girl and exited the stairwell. Walking back into Stephanie's apartment, I found Gazarra seated on her couch. He looked up at me. "It's not her," I told him.

Air whooshed from Eddie's lungs. He nodded and rubbed a hand over his face. "That was awful. That woman looked just like her from the back. Not that I've ever seen her like that. I just–" I could see why he and Stephanie got along so well. Married or not, some men were competition, but not Gazzara. He was just a friend, honest and nice; someone who cared a lot about her.

I handed him my card. "Do me a favor. Call me if anything interesting turns up." I didn't _entirely_ trust Morelli not to cut me out. If he was smart and wanted her found, he wouldn't.

Gazarra nodded. "There are a couple of things we've found."

I listened, staring and waiting for him to continue. I'd practiced this look so often I could do it in my sleep. I used to be a hotheaded teenager with a bad attitude and a chip on my shoulder. My skin tone was darker than most Cubans and too light to be black. I didn't fit in anywhere, but I became determined to make my own way. And I did. I made it by closing off the outside world to the inside of me. What they got was a shadow. They saw the darkness and that was all they would see.

"There was a ticket stub of some sort in the trash. We haven't been able to identify it." He held it out to me.

I turned it over in my hand and looked closely. It was faded and blood soaked. It appeared old, but why would it be so recently in the trash? There was an indent on the corner. I held it up to the light and felt my blood rush. Stephanie's teeth marks. I'd seen this paper before. She'd had it in her teeth when she was digging through that enormous bag for something she couldn't find yesterday. When I'd tried to take the paper, she'd pulled back and it had ripped. She'd been upset about it.

I handed it back to Gazarra. "This needs to go to evidence. I remember it and it could be helpful." He nodded. Well, there was a clue, but so far it wasn't a good one. "So, what's the theory? How did she get out of here?" I knew I hadn't missed anything, but I wanted to gain his trust and make him feel that I needed his help.

"You mean aside from being a ghost or being able to walk through walls?" Gazarra shrugged. "Beats me. The windows are secure. You could open them from the outside, but locking them would be impossible unless you were in the apartment, so she didn't go out that way." He pointed to the door. "I don't have to tell you that no one is thin enough to fit through the crack in that door when the chain is on and there's not a way I know of to attach a chain from the outside."

I was actually trying to think if someone could use a device like mine in reverse and I supposed it could happen. I'd often considered whether or not my device would work for that, but had never tried it. Still, it would be hard enough to do with an injured woman on your hands. There was no doubt in my mind that she was injured, even if I didn't have the science confirm it was her blood, I knew it was hers. Whoever took her wanted time with her. My fists clenched. There would be nothing left of him when I was through. "How long before it can be confirmed whether or not this blood is Stephanie's?" _Shit_. Having to say it out loud made my heart nearly stop.

"It usually takes a couple of hours. Usually if the blood types match, it's assumed they're the same until DNA comes back. DNA can take a while, but I have a feeling Joe will get some special treatment." He shook his head and stared at the bedroom door. "I hope that isn't her blood. It's a lot of blood."

I nodded and felt a headache coming on while thinking about my next steps. I was going to have to call in a favor and there was nothing I hated worse than owing someone. The only thing I hated worse than owing a debt was Stephanie being at the mercy of a psychopath. There was no contest between the two options; I couldn't sit by and watch if it was possible for me to help.

I checked the rest of the trash contents and noted that the other half of the stub was not there. I went to her bedroom and dumped out her purse onto the bed. I looked in the bag and found nothing and then sifted through the items on the bed, but there was no paper. I turned the bag inside out and found a hidden zipper. It opened easily, which told me that it was used frequently since hidden zippers usually got stiff after non-use. The paper was inside. Hmm, she was hiding it and my guess was from either me or Morelli, maybe both.

I pocketed the paper and re-zipped the compartment before replacing the contents into her purse. I nodded to Gazarra on my way out. "Call me when you know. My men are looking for her and will need any relevant information."

I took the elevator to the first floor and went out to my car. Hal was parked next to me. He was my designated wingman tonight. I missed having Tank for several reasons; one of them being his uncanny ability to sense all lurking danger. However, the biggest reason was that he was my friend. My only friend. Hal was an adequate replacement as far as his senses went, he had been a fine soldier and was a valued employee of mine. I walked over to his window and he lowered it. "Head back to Rangeman and get instructions for Tank. I'm offline for the next couple of hours." I smacked the top as a goodbye and waited until he pulled away and turned the corner before walking over to my Turbo.

I settled into the soft leather seat and switched on some classical music. The Mozart Requiem suited my mood tonight. I advanced to _Dies Irae_ and blasted the sound as I settled in for a trip. _Carlos, you are one sick motherfucker listening to a requiem right now._

A flash of my childhood popped into my head before I could suppress it. I was eight and my mother had taken me to downtown Trenton for an evaluation requested by my teacher. She thought I needed glasses. I thought she needed a brain. We were in the waiting room at the ophthalmologist's office when the door opened and a bully from my school walked in with his mother. Felipe Rubio.

I sat waiting with my mother and Felipe made obscene gestures with his hand when our mothers weren't looking. The office door opened once again and another mother came in with her daughter. The girl was my age with wild, curly brown hair and a curious expression. She had deep blue eyes that took in everything around her. I think I fell in love on the spot.

"Stephanie, come sit with me," her mother said crisply, pointing to a chair beside her.

Stephanie looked at her mother and I thought I detected an eye roll. "I want to look at the books." After a moment's hesitation, her mother nodded. Stephanie came over and stood close to me at the table with the reading materials. She bit her lip and cast a quick, guilty glance at her mother. When she turned back, her gaze bypassed the children's books and moved over the stack of magazines. It took her merely a few seconds to pick out a flight magazine and then she sat in the chair beside me, leafing through the pictures. Her mother didn't call her again, but kept a close eye on her. I noticed that the woman didn't mention her daughter's choice of reading material.

"Do you need glasses?" I asked.

She looked and fixed her eyes on me as if she were pulling me into her soul; at least, that's what it felt like to me. I was completely mesmerized by her. "No. It's just a checkup. Do you?"

I grinned. "No, I just pretend that I can't see so my teacher doesn't make me do her boring assignments."

"You can do that?" She asked.

"Well, it's not a good idea." I pointed to my mamá. "She's going to be angry with me when she finds out."

Stephanie nodded and looked at her mother. I thought maybe she was wondering if she could pull it off with her mother. Then she looked back at her magazine. "Do you like airplanes?" I asked.

She nodded. "I want to learn to fly." She leaned closer to me. "I have a secret."

"What?"

"I jump off our garage because I'm trying to grow wings. One day, I'm going to jump off and I'm going to just go sailing off into the sky. I won't even need a plane," she said. Her eyes were dancing and I felt my heart dancing right along with them.

Our mothers got up to grab some coffee and started to chat at that moment. Soon after, Felipe started in on me. "Ricardo _Nerdo,_" he said with a derogative hand gesture toward his head.

Stephanie gave him a disgusted look and then turned to me. "Is your name Ricardo?" She asked.

"Yes, but I go by Carlos. My father is Ricardo." My palms were sweaty. I'd never had a crush before, but she was the one for me. I wanted her to be my girl.

Felipe walked over and kicked my shin. "I was talking to you Mañoso. Don't ignore me."

I had a sharp retort on my tongue, but the girl stepped between us. "Go away. We don't want you here."

"I didn't ask what you wanted, shorty." He smirked and turned to me, but he never got the chance to say anything.

"That wasn't a nice thing to do. Tell him you're sorry." She was standing with her hands on her hips and her eyes were narrowed.

"No."

"Fine." It was so fast I almost didn't see it happen, but she punched him in the gut. He fell over and sucked in some air. "Leave us alone."

She sat down and picked up her magazine. "Stephanie!" Her mother exclaimed. "You apologize to that boy right now!" Her mother said in a tight voice, her eyes darting nervously toward Mrs. Rubio.

"No. He kicked this boy and he needs to be nicer." Her blue eyes flashed icy fire toward her mother. She was full of indignation and righteous anger.

Her mother apologized to Felipe's mother, but Felipe's mother grabbed him by the ear and dragged him up to his feet. Then she proceeded to shout at him and box him around the ears for a few moments. I looked at Stephanie and her eyes were wide, watching. I saw them fill with tears and she hugged her mother. The tough girl had a soft spot.

"It was my fault," I said. Everyone turned and looked at me, but Mrs. Rubio still had a hold of Felipe's ear. "I made fun of his shoes and he got mad at me. She didn't know and got mad at him."

The berating had stopped. My mother looked at me and pointed to Felipe. I nodded and crossed the room to give the standard acceptable apology in our home. "_Lo ciento_, Felipe. Your shoes are not my business and I did not have a right to make fun of them."

Felipe nodded and locked eyes with me. I knew from that moment he would have my back because I had his. I would receive no more beatings from Felipe Rubio. His mother hugged him and apologized to him as I walked back to my seat.

I could feel her eyes on me through the whole exchange. I turned to look at her when I was seated. "Why did you say that?" She asked.

"Because, I wanted you to stop crying," I said. "I wanted you to be happy."

She smiled at me then and I lost my heart to her. I spent the next twenty two years dreaming of her blue eyes, bright smile, and disorderly brown curls. I hadn't realized the grown woman Stephanie Plum was the girl Stephanie from my dreams. Not until I met her mother and recognized her. After that, the grown woman replaced the little girl in my heart. I removed the little boy puppy love and replaced it with something much stronger and more adult.

When she had called me in the middle of the night to tell me she needed help, I first thought that if I ignored her, she would give up bounty hunting. I didn't want her to do this job. It's dangerous; too dangerous for someone who couldn't even run for more than five minutes. The second time my phone rang I shook my head and answered. I knew she wouldn't give up; it was part of the reason I had fallen for her as a boy. Once I got a glimpse of her perfect creamy skin and sexy body, I spent nearly every night dreaming of her. How would her eyes react when I was inside her? What would she feel like? What would she taste like?

Then one night I got my chance and I took as much of her as I dared. I tasted and touched, I caressed her inside and out. I sent her over the edge and got lost in her scent, in her taste. Every time I saw her from that night, I remembered her passion and how she'd trembled beneath my lips. My sweet, tender Babe.

Would I ever get the chance again? I stopped at a light and pulled out the paper. It was a casino claim ticket from Atlantic City. Why would she want to hide this? It didn't look special at all and the sum wasn't that hight. I'd get my favor and then go to Harrah's to see what I could find out.

I drove out of Trenton and turned down a secluded road on the outskirts of town. Just before I reached the dead end, I hit a button and an opening appeared in the trees to my right. I eased through the dark passage and pulled into my immaculate, hidden garage. I pulled into the open space near the door and looked to my right. I had four other cars in here, all black. A Jaguar XK, Mercedes SLK, a BMW M6 Coupe, and the last was a Bugatti Veyron EB. It was a gift from a client for saving his son's life. I didn't drive it very often, but I would take it out tonight.

Marcus, the male version of Ella who lived on this propertly, came through the side door and met me. "Sir?"

"Locate Diesel for me. Tell him to meet me here and tell him I won't take no for an answer," I instructed as I walked into the Batcave. I thought about Stephanie and how her eyes would look if she came here and saw that I really was Batman, in a manner of speaking. Of course, then I would never live it down and I'd have to listen to her gloat, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed her triumphant look as much as I enjoyed her sensuous look. Of course, this was something she could never know about me, the forbidden secret. Not if she wanted to have a normal life.

"Diesel, sir?"

I turned and gave Marcus a dark scowl. Without another word, he nodded and went to the control room. I walked into my personal sanctuary. I had it designed like a rain forest. I loved the sound of rain falling through the trees. Whenever I needed to clear my head, I came here. More than anything, I wanted to bring Stephanie here. To make love to her on the platform bed with the sounds of the forest all around; to make her forget Morelli, the Burg, and everything but me.

I would have to find her first. I stood, listening to the sounds for a few minutes to regain my shaken composure from the evening's events. Then I left and went to meet Marcus in the control room. "Report."

"Diesel should be here any moment."

"I'm here." I heard his voice behind me. I turned around and he was leaning against the door frame. "You have a lot of nerve making demands on me right now." Even angry, the man looked like he was laughing. Most of the time, it made me want to punch him.

"I had a good reason." I filled him in on the scene on the stairs in Stephanie's building and in her apartment.

"And you think maybe I had something to do with this?" Anger flashed in his eyes. "I admit I could make her vanish, a little. But the blood?"

"I didn't say I thought it was you. I want your help. You can get into places I can't." Amusement filled his eyes. "We'll discuss price later. I have to find her."

His eyes narrowed, though the amusement never quite left. That was Diesel's way. Everything was a game to him. "You think I would only help her if you paid me?"

"It was my favor."

"Well, now it's my gift. Where are we going?"

"Atlantic City." I pulled out the ticket. "The police don't know about this, I swiped it. But this is search point A."

He looked it over. "Hmm, now I'm having some very bad ideas about what might have happened. You piss anyone off lately?"

I nodded. "Yes. Some big bad guys, too. We might need Lynck for this."

Diesel shook his head. "Shit, Ranger. She could be dead already."

"I know." I looked at the wall in front of Marcus. It was one large screen broken down into about thirty-five smaller images that displayed images all over the city of Trenton. "We need to find her," I swallowed, "dead or alive. I'll have hell to pay for this later. Right now it's about her and that means no price is too high."

"Not even the price of being Batman?" Diesel asked.

"Not even the price of being me."


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_A/N: I know I'm updating a lot. Wrote a lot this weekend and couldn't post!_

_Warning: Bad things happen here and may be offensive._

* * *

Diesel and I were headed to Atlantic City in my Bugatti when my cell phone chirped. I didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway since half the city was on the lookout for Stephanie. "Yo."

"Ranger…" Stephanie. Her voice was barely a whisper. I could hear the pain and suffering behind every syllable.

I was silent for a beat, to school my voice. "Babe. Where are you?"

I heard a strangled choking sound come from her and then a cold voice said, "Hello, Mañoso. Do you remember who I am?"

I felt hot rage build within me. "Truro," I spat out.

He laughed. "So good to know you haven't forgotten me. I have your little friend here. She's something, isn't she?" I heard her whimper. "Come here, Stephanie. Tell Señor Mañoso how good my loving is. Tell him how much you love what I do to you."

I heard her crying as the phone was placed up to her mouth and felt as if my chest would explode from the emotions I refused to release. Not her. Not Stephanie. My Babe; this was my fault. "Ranger…"

"I'm coming for you."

"Tell him, you little slut," I heard Truro hiss. "Tell him how much you loved tasting my cock. How good my mouth feels; how good it felt when I was fucking your brains out." I closed my eyes as her breath came out in sobs and she struggled to control herself. I heard Truro growl and a muffled sound come from her. "Tell him or I will slit your throat."

"It … was … good." She hiccupped on a sob. "S-s-so good."

"I'll get you out of there," I said, my voice unable to speak louder than a hoarse whisper.

I heard a thud and Truro's muffled voice speaking to her. She moaned and stifled a sob. "I have to go now. I need him again." Her voice was trembling and I could tell she was terrified.

Truro's insane laugh floated back to the phone. "There, you see? She loves me, can't get enough. In fact, she doesn't have to wait any longer. I have toys here, Mañoso. Lots of toys. In fact," I heard the rustling of plastic and metal, "I think I will try this one on her."

"Nooooo!" I heard her scream in terror and it washed over me in a wave of panic and grief. I didn't know what he picked up, but anything that made her scream like that…

I slammed my phone shut and looked at Diesel. "All bets are off. I'm breaking the rules."

"You can't."

"She's more important than the rules. Did you hear what happened just now?" I felt cold fury pumping through my system.

Diesel's eyes had lost their humor and, for the first time since we'd met, I saw him become angry. "Yes."

"Tell me that the rules matter more to you than her safety."

He looked at me. "We can't undo it once it's done."

"I'd go to hell and stay there for her," I said.

"Wow, you love her." He looked at me in wonder. "It's not even the "oh she'd be great for a romp in bed" kind of love. You're entirely head over heels."

I nodded. "We're doing this and if you don't want to be a part of it, you can get out."

"I'm in." His voice was cold, quiet.

I pulled the car over to the side of the road and parked. Diesel and I stepped out and I pressed a button on my remote. The car vanished and Diesel sent me a mirthless grin. "I want it to be here when we're done."

"I don't think you have to worry about what you will or won't have when you're done. Let's go talk to the man." We both closed our eyes and, after a few seconds of focus, we were standing in a long corridor with a twenty-five foot crystal ceiling. In fact, everything appeared to be made out of crystal. The building felt like home to me, more than any other place I'd been and figured it was because I'd spent more of my time in this place than anywhere else.

Diesel and I looked at each other and walked toward the large double doors at the end of the hallway. We pushed them open in tandem and stepped into a large, brightly lit office. The room boasted the same high ceilings as the hallway, except the ceiling was a large oval pane of clear crystal that displayed the afternoon sky to perfection. There were bookshelves on the far wall stacked floor to ceiling with books. On the east side of the room was a large white marble fireplace. On the west side sat a large carved mahogany desk and, behind it, sat a man named Batiste. It was this man we sought and now approached to stand in front of his desk.

"I know why you're here and the answer is no," he said. His steel gray eyes pierced into mine. Batiste had short gray hair, a gray goatee, and he was dressed in a crisply pressed white cotton dress shirt with the top button undone and gray dress slacks. It was casual day at the office.

"With all due respect, I'm not asking permission," I challenged with a glare.

He held my eyes with his gaze. "It's not in your power to _decide_ to break the rules."

"Then I'll speak with the Board." I crossed my arms and waited.

"You're needed. If you give up your place, we may not be able to fill it. One person isn't worth jeopardizing all we've worked for." Anger flashed in my eyes, his softened just a fraction. "Carlos, think about it. She's one woman."

"And she is in trouble because of my choices. You know everything about me, everything about her, and you know that she will never be 'just a woman' to me. How would you have handled listening to her pain on the phone if you were me?" I asked, my body shaking with unspent rage.

His eyes turned cold. "I've felt more than you would ever want to experience in a lifetime. You have to let it go."

Diesel stepped forward. "What if we brought her in, gave her an alternative?"

Batiste looked at Diesel. "You're with him on this?"

"I don't want this to go on. She's going to be ruined when Truro finishes if we don't stop him." His voice was quiet with deadly sincerity and I felt myself begrudgingly gaining a little respect for him. "She won't just be another victim, she'll be worse."

"How do you know she would rather give up having a normal life than to die? Are you making the decision for her?" He arched an eyebrow at us, waiting for an answer.

Diesel's face contorted with pain and rage. "He's not going to kill her. If it were just death…"

Batiste looked shocked and turned to me. "Death is one thing, but this is another matter altogether." He shook his head and stared at his desktop, chewing over this new information. "What do you propose?"

"Let us neutralize Truro and we'll give her the option," I said. "If she chooses to return to her life, at least she will have had the choice."

"This isn't a movie, Carlos." Batiste sighed. "If you tell her about us she will have no choice."

"Then she's being offered more of a choice than she has right now," I said. "Truro specializes in stealing souls and he likes to take his time. It's not working for me to stand and argue about this. I want him neutralized now. We have enough evidence." I could hear the anger and frustration in my voice. I never allowed my emotions to govern my actions, but I was helpless to stop this time.

All I could think was about how, as each moment ticked by, she was losing more of what made her herself, what made her the woman I loved. I didn't want to look into her eyes, like I had so many others he'd taken, and see a vacant expression, a living being with no emotions, no thoughts, no _life_ to them; a mere shell of who she once was.

"How do you know she will be able to join us?" He asked. "She may not have the abilities to do it."

"She does." I stared at him, unblinking.

He sighed. "You're sure about this? Will she be okay with it?"

"In a few hours, she won't know what's going on. I don't see how it matters. Besides, she's curious and likes adventure. I think she will be okay. She'll still be able to see her parents, albeit not on the same scale as before."

Diesel jumped in again. "I really would hate to see him change her, she's different. Not to mention that I'd also like to see Truro squirm."

Batiste waved a hand. "Fine. Go, take him down. If you can rescue her without revealing anything, do so. If you have to bring her in to save her, we'll deal with it then. I'll have documents drawn up just in case."

We nodded and closed our eyes. A few seconds later we opened them and we were back beside my invisible car. Diesel looked at me, showing no emotion and, for once, I couldn't read him. "This is about as serious as it gets."

"Let's just go get her." My mind was racing. I didn't know how much time we had before he would start his torture, if he hadn't already begun. Rape was bad enough and I hated knowing that she'd had to endure something so horrible, but knowing his level of torture, I felt that she would survive the sexual assault better. I felt confident of this because she was already mentally prepared that something tragic could happen to her due to her job. She would be able to heal from the physical torture well enough. It would take a while, but I would do what I could to help her overcome this experience. But if her soul was gone, there would be no healing, not unless we were able to kill him and release her. And I would do it if necessary.

"So, you seem pretty sure. What skills does she have? I never picked up anything in particular." Diesel asked as we slid into the Bugatti. I pulled out and saw Morelli speed past us. He slammed on his brakes and pulled over, sliding to a stop at an odd angle. I pulled up next to him and Diesel rolled down his window.

Morelli glared at us through narrowed eyes. "Where are you headed?" He asked.

"Atlantic City."

He nodded. "You know about Harrah's?"

My turn to nod. "You know it's not going to lead anywhere, right?"

He stared at us, his face devoid of emotion, but I was listening to his inner dialogue and knew his plans. Then he looked at Diesel. "You're here, too?"

Diesel managed a half smile. "Yep, I hate missing parties."

"Sounds like a serious party," Morelli said. "Am I invited?"

I gripped the steering wheel and compressed my lips. "This is gonna piss you off, but this one is out of your league, Morelli."

I was right, he was pissed. He opened his mouth to yell and I cut him off since I'd heard them before he acknowledged them. "What I need you to do is to get some men out at this address to secure the perimeter. No one goes in or out." I wrote down an address and handed the slip over to Diesel.

Morelli reached a hand out and warily took the paper from Diesel's fingertips and then looked at the paper before meeting my eyes again. "I'll bite the bait, but I want an explanation later." His eyes flicked over the car. "Nice car."

"Thanks, it was a gift," I said and then I rolled up the window and sped away. No need to tell him what was really happening to Stephanie. He would have been useless whether he knew about her or not. I also didn't know how I would work in the part about how she would have to end their relationship permanently, something that didn't necessarily make me upset, but would make him mad as a wet hornet.

"You're evil," Diesel said.

"I can't have him in the way. I don't need to worry about more people today," I said.

Diesel was smiling in his annoying way. "There's going to be a fight later."

"Shut it."

I parked the Bugatti behind an old warehouse and hit the button again making it disappear. Diesel stared at the spot where the car sat and said, "You know, it's not even fair that you get all the cool toys while I bum beds from people and carry a backpack." He reached out to touch the invisible car. "Fun."

I shook my head at him. "Come on, we have a date with Truro."

"Are we killing him or locking him up?" Diesel asked quietly.

I looked at him. "Are you willing to kill him?" I asked.

He looked around and then locked eyes with me. "Yeah, this time I could kill him and I want to."

I nodded. If we didn't kill Truro, we wouldn't be able to reverse the effects of his technique and wouldn't have a hope of restoring her. My preference is to _not _have to kill my targets and I only do it as a last resort. The longer I knew Stephanie, the more killing I was willing to do to keep her safe.

My phone rang and I recognized Truro's number from earlier. I answered and heard Stephanie's agonized screams coming across the line, they were a mixture of no's, screams, and suffering. My blood kicked to a fast pace. I snapped my phone closed and looked at Diesel.

"It's time." He nodded and we closed our eyes. Seconds later we were standing outside Truro's compound. It was a large piece of land with a huge stucco building. It was surrounded by a huge stone wall with a big wooden gate that closed off the entrance. For some reason I started thinking of the Alamo in my head when I saw it. We were going in and only one was coming out with us.

"You couldn't get us inside?" I asked, shaking my head. "This is inconvenient."

"Hey, give me a break. I'm used to doing this for one." He had his hands on his hips. "You need to learn to do this."

I sent him a killing look. "It's not my skill, but next time let's plan so we focus on the same thing at least. Deal?" I asked slipping through the gate.

Diesel followed. "We need cover."

I shook my head. "No, we're walking right in. His men can't stop us. We have a right to be here now, the Board is backing us." I set my jaw and started walking toward the front entrance with a purpose.

"You pick too many fights," Diesel complained, but he looked happy. If there's anything Diesel hates, it's crawling around on the ground.

I got a flashback. Me, at the age of ten, walking home from school one day. It was after I had accidentally run into Antonio Cerez's girl in the hallway. He told me I was dead when we left school. I had almost wanted to call my _mamá_ to come get me, but I knew I had to face him sometime. I knew the moment I saw him step in front of me that day that it would be painful.

His boys had closed in around us so that it was just me and him. He had come at me, fists, feet, and legs. I had been so badly beaten that I couldn't come to school for three days. My collarbone and nose had been broken, and my shoulder was dislocated. I wasn't upset about the injuries. I was happy I'd survived. I decided if Antonio couldn't kill me, no one could.

Diesel and I walked side by side as I remembered that life changing moment from my past. It had been the moment when no one would tell me what to do again. I had received further beatings up until the age of sixteen, but I never cowered and I never backed down again.

"You never told me what skills you think she has, what she can do," Diesel said, shaking me back to the present. We were getting close to the front entrance.

"In what context?" I asked.

"What could she add to the team?"

"Super Spidey sense," I answered. Diesel laughed.

"I'm not kidding. She's got it in spades. If she were trained how to use it, she'd be dangerous to any criminal within fifty miles, maybe further," I explained. I thought about it and decided that it wasn't just criminals that would be in danger. "Anyway, in all seriousness, I think she has precognitive abilities, with a touch of clairvoyance."

"I can see that," Diesel said thoughtfully. "So, you're going to save her from being soulless to becoming trapped in this life?"

I looked at him as if he'd grown a second nose. "What would you choose?"

"Good point, but Stephanie is also rebellious and free-spirited," he said. The thought had crossed my mind, but I didn't think that this job would mold Stephanie. I felt that she would mold the job to suit her, just as she molded everything in her life.

"The alternative is better?" I looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

He sighed. "Well, no." He looked toward the building. "Let's do it. Good luck."

"Yeah, you, too," I said and we headed for the front doors, drawing out our weapons. Weapons meant to kill, weapons that never failed. We had the right, they would die.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_Warning for violence and a tiny bit of gore._

* * *

A flash of memory swept through my mind as we stormed into the compound, weapons firing. I remembered myself as a young teen, just thirteen. I was a drug runner for one of the local dealers and I was still getting beat up a lot, but I was getting tougher. I wasn't as tall as the other kids and I could fit into a lot of places, so I was the obvious choice to run. The best part about my size was that I could get out of sight quickly and dodge the cops.

We'd been in a turf war with a rival gang and one night we went to their home base to teach them a lesson. The slaughter that had taken place had left me trembling with remorse and fear. I'd taken a bullet to the leg and had run the six miles to my house and barely felt it because I was so scared. I couldn't recall to this day how I was able to make it out alive, but seeing innocent death like that, especially over drugs, changes you. It alters your soul.

Each time I had to go into a location with my guns blazing, I lost a piece of myself; but it didn't compare to what I stood to lose. Stephanie was my last link to the human side of me. I didn't want to lose it and I didn't want to lose her. Losing one meant losing the other.

I felt Diesel's hand on my arm, slowing my progress, slowing the killing. He stood, listening, feeling. A few seconds later, his eyes opened and moved to the staircase. "Up there."

I nodded. We blasted our way through the men who were defending against us and failing. We had the right, they couldn't hurt us.

_What gives us a right to kill these idiots?_ The human part asked. It was Stephanie's voice in my head. Would she be angry, would she understand? I would kill a whole army just to save her. I was killing a small army, and one very bad unmentionable, just to save her, just to know she is safe.

_Would she really be able to do this, Carlos? You know it would be required._ I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I couldn't think about it now. Her survival was more important. _But she's good. Do you want to know Stephanie as a killer?_

We charged up the stairs and stood on the landing. Diesel stopped again, feeling, trying to find her life force. He turned right and I followed. More men fell, more doors were passed, then we were suddenly the end of the hall in front of a door. He looked at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. _Dammit!_ Sometimes he was too much of a good boy. I didn't think he had it in him to help me. "If you can't do this, call Lynck," I hissed. "Truro is a dead man."

Diesel nodded. "Yes, this time he is dead."

We opened the door, guns raised and the scene before froze my breath in my lungs. "Oh my God," I whispered.

Diesel stood speechless.

Stephanie was strapped to a table, lying on her stomach, her head shaved haphazardly. Truro hadn't been careful and there were streams of blood running forward to her chin. He had attached wires to her head with some goo and they ran from a strange electronic machine with several knobs and buttons. I didn't know what the machine was, but it was obviously causing her incredible pain. She was screaming so hard that her voice was spent and we only heard the hoarse hiss of air as it left her throat.

"Oh shit," Diesel said, anger boiling in the depths of his eyes.

We rushed over to her and Diesel turned off the machine, then removed the wires. I unstrapped her arms and legs and covered her with my jacket. She had a thin white t-shirt on, but nothing else. She was bloody from all the abuse she had received at Truro's hands. I scooped her off the table and put her into Diesel's arms. "Take her, get her out of here."

"Can't. We have to finish this. Look at her." I did look and realized that the Stephanie I knew was no longer there. Truro had started his process and it looked as if he was subjecting her to torture between the sessions. She stared up, unblinking. _No, God, no!_

"He could kill her. Get her out," I said.

"You know she has to be there or it won't work. It will take both of us to do this and this is our only chance. There's no time, Ranger. We do this now or we can never do it," He said and I knew that he had hit his limit. Truro was a dead man, thanks to Stephanie Plum. Diesel had a point. We had the right, given with permission and gratitude. If we left, it would be contested and could be removed. I couldn't, no, wouldn't leave without revenge.

"Okay, but you stay with her at all times. At the first sign of trouble, get her out of here," I barked. He nodded and we plowed back out through the door. I turned to him. "Where is he?"

He stopped and listened. His eyes closed and then popped open. "Straight ahead."

We marched forward and reached the door at the other end of the hall. I reached out and turned the knob. The door opened easily. A look of understanding passed between me and Diesel. I went through the door, weapon raised and Diesel followed behind me, Stephanie in his arms.

Truro stood in the middle of the room with a smile on his face. He laughed and looked at Stephanie. "Go ahead and take her. She's nothing now." His smile was smug. I raised my weapon and took aim. He had a triumphant look on his face. "You can't kill me. Go ahead and shoot me, see what happens."

At that moment, two men stepped out of the shadows and stalked toward Diesel and Stephanie. His Rottweilers, Dell Sunbladt and Adam Wentz, both dumber than rocks. I called them Rottweilers because that's how they looked; like two stocky, jowly dogs with their tongues hanging out. Diesel got his "fun" look in his eye, then glanced at me and winked. _Ugh_. I wish he wouldn't wink at me. It's just too – _Ugh_. I wanted to kick his ass.

I flicked my gaze back to Truro, my aim still exact. "I will shoot you, but not before I tell you that I have paperwork giving us the right to kill you." Rage filled his face just before I squeezed off two shots straight into the middle of his forehead. As I watched, my eye twisted my view until time moved in slow motion and the bullets ground their way toward Truro slow as slugs. I lowered my weapon and walked beside the bullets as they inched toward Truro.

Once I confirmed they would hit their mark, I turned and walked back to take Stephanie from Diesel's arms. The Rotties stalked toward Diesel and his eye was on them. They didn't stand a chance against him, so I focused my attention back to Truro. I carried her alongside the bullets and prepared myself for what I had to do next. We had to get there at the right moment or it wouldn't work. A touch that was too early could alert him and he could dive out of their path, too late and we'd miss our window. We got close and I watched his eyes widen in shock as he realized that he had been terminated, for good.

Just before the bullets bit into his head, I released Stephanie's legs and held her upright against my back so I could grab her hand. I lifted it to his forehead and slid it directly in front of the bullets, placing a kiss at her temple. "I'm sorry, Babe. It's the only way," I whispered as the bullets bit through her hand and into Truro's skull.

I stared at the two holes I'd just created with bated breath, watching for the release; waiting for her return. Time stood still, even for me, and I had the ability to control it. I began to worry that we'd been too late and it was lost out in the expanse, when I saw a tendril of something like smoke, making its way into her hand. Relief flooded through me and I allowed my eye to adjust time back to normal. I sank to the floor with Stephanie in my arms, staring at her, waiting for her.

Diesel, his body in already in motion, subdued Truro's men before he realized what I'd done. They lay unconscious on the floor and he blinked, looking around. His eyes first settled on Truro's lifeless form lying in front of him on the floor. Then his gaze shifted over to me, and then Stephanie in my arms. "I forgot what a trip it is to go on a mission with you." He sighed. "I feel like I was on drugs without the fun, got the bad trip before the good one."

I tossed him a glare and continued to watch her while I cut off the bottom of my shirt with my knife to wrap her hand. Fear began to rise in my throat. Maybe we were too late, after all. There was a point of no return, but then … no, her eyes twitched. _Twitching is good, Babe! Open your eyes!_

Slowly, her eyes began to blink and she took in her surroundings. Then the pain, fear, and terror hit her. She began to hit out at me, kicking and swinging, screaming in rage and fear. I trapped her arms with mine and spoke over her voice. "Stephanie! It's me, Babe. I'm here, you're safe."

I repeated the phrase until she calmed down and saw that she was in my arms and safe. "Ranger?"

"Yes, I'm here."

"Omigod! Omigod! Ranger!" Her voice broke and sobs escaped. "I thought you would come before … before…"

"Shhh." I kissed her temple, remorse and shame filling me. I hadn't been there for her. She had expected me and I failed. How could she ever trust me again? I would do what I could to gain her trust back, to get her to believe in me again.

She clung to my neck, her arms locked in a tight grip around me. I hooked an arm under her legs and stood, holding her to my side with one arm. I looked at Diesel. He nodded and we passed back through the door. I drew my weapon and he drew his.

Suddenly, Diesel froze and turned around. "Wulf." I nodded. "We don't have rights," he reminded me.

"I know. Can't you subdue him? He's your guy," I said.

"Yes, but he's a bit scary now," he answered, almost to himself. I slid a look at him.

"Well, I can't touch him, so do something," I said between my teeth. "He's _not_ my guy."

Diesel nodded and got a determined look on his face. Stephanie pulled her head back and looked around as we neared the corner. "You two are working together?"

"I'd do anything for you, Babe, even work with Daisy here," I said, kissing a bruise on her cheek.

"Hey, watch it, Batman." He winked at Stephanie. "I'm not worried, anyway. She's going to find out that you love working with me and we always get the job done," Diesel said, focusing on our journey.

We rounded another corner and the stairs were in front of us. Her eyes took in the bodies lying around, red stains running through their clothing and onto the floor. Then her eyes settled on Wulf.

"Ranger! Don't let him touch you. He can burn with just his hand," she stammered and her body trembled with pent up fear and emotion. She was like a scared kitten and I didn't blame her after what had happened. My greatest wish right now was that I could soothe her and help her return to normal. Her eyes looked around wildly and she whimpered in fear and pain.

"Easy, he won't touch me," I assured her and holstered my weapon, then scooped my free arm beneath her knees. I held her tight against my chest, my arms gripping her like a vice. She reached out to grab my shoulder and cried out at the pain in her hand. "I'll explain everything to you later, Babe," I promised.

Wulf looked at us in amusement. "Ah, I'm surprised to find the two of you working together after the Tokyo fiasco."

"Caused by you," Diesel said, his eyes glimmering almost back to normal after our run-in with Truro. "Get lost, Wulf. I don't have time to chase you down and I'm not in the mood for your antics."

"Tut, tut, cousin. You know I never take orders. That's your life, not mine." He walked toward us, laughing. "I believe you have something that belongs to me. I'll just take it and go."

I narrowed my eyes and Diesel must have looked confused because Wulf smiled and said, "Ms. Plum. Truro was holding her for me." I felt my anger flare up.

"Did you tell him to destroy her?" Diesel asked, his voice deadly quiet.

"Me? No, no. You know I'm not into all that voodoo. I just wanted him to hold her for me," he said with a wave of his hand.

"You almost got an empty shell," I said.

"Shell?" Stephanie looked at me. "What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain everything to you later, Babe. Just hold onto me," I whispered into her ear.

Wulf's smile grew cold. "I'm not in the mood for playtime," he said. "Hand her over."

Diesel looked at me and threw a thought into my head. "If you're going to do your time-play, please warn me. I don't need to get sick right now."

I sent him a meaningful nod and whispered, "Close your eyes and hang on, Babe." I set my eye on Wulf and watched as all movement came to a halt. I jogged around the cousins and then through the front door. The jog across the field to the gate seemed to take forever, but we were finally through the large wooden door. My range wasn't that great, so I was certain Wulf would be coming soon. I turned and saw him walk through the door. Where was Diesel?

I looked at her and saw her looking around in confusion. "Okay, Babe. I want you to close your eyes and think about me. Just think how you want to go where I want to go. Can you do that?" She nodded. "Just focus on me, Babe. Concentrate." I looked up. Wulf was almost close enough to do some damange. I wasn't scared for me. I knew that I could handle him, but not with an injured and weak Stephanie in tow. Not to mention that the only weapon I could easily reach without tossing Stephanie down would be the one weapon I was forbidden to use in this instance. "Ready, Babe?" I asked.

She nodded. She closed her eyes and wrapped her good hand around my shoulder. I closed my eyes and felt my inner spirit call to headquarters, then felt my body relax. When I opened my eyes, we were there. I looked down and Stephanie was still in my arms. I breathed a sigh of relief. She must have felt the tension leave my shoulders because she opened her eyes and surprise nearly shocked her out of my arms if I hadn't been holding so tight. "Easy, Babe," I said. I looked at her. "You did it."

She turned to me, her mouth agape. "You?"

I knew what she was asking me. "Yes, Babe. Me."

I saw something travel through her eyes. An emotion that I wasn't sure I understood. Fear? Betrayal? Anger? Resignation? Maybe understanding? "I'm sorry that you feel betrayed right now. I did tell you that there are a lot of things you don't know about me. There are a lot of things I haven't been at liberty to tell you, until now."

She stared at me for a moment. "Why now?"

"Because you're here." I kissed her temple. "I'll explain it all later. I want the healer to look you over."

She was staring at me. Her eyes haunted, her face bruised, and her beautiful hair … I wouldn't think about her hair, it didn't matter anyway. I loved her. She was beautiful, cuts, bruises, and bald head. While I looked, her eyes filled with pain and tears, then her mouth trembled. "Oh God, Babe. I did everything I could. I tried, I tried. I didn't know where you were. The evidence pointed to your apartment and then there was–" I broke off and kissed her cheek. "None of that matters. The point is I failed you and I'm so sorry."

She was openly sobbing, clinging to me, and shaking her head against my chest. "You didn't fail, it was crazy what happened. I knew you would have a hard time finding me." I strode down the hallway and took her through a set of double doors to the east into the medical wing. I laid her gently on a bed and she held me. "Please, Ranger. Don't leave me, please."

"I'm not, Babe." I laid down next to her and gathered her close. Oliver, one of the on-staff healers, approached us quietly. I turned my head to look at him. "She has multiple wound all over and–and she was sexually assaulted."

He had a grim set to his mouth. I knew Oliver. He was a good guy, very compassionate, and became very angry over any brutalization of women, children, and animals. "I need some room, C." I placed a gentle hand on Stephanie's cheek and tilted her face up. My breath caught at the pain and confusion blazing in their depths.

"Babe, this is Oliver. He's going to help you." She gripped me tightly. I looked at Oliver. "I might need some leeway here, man."

He nodded. "Stephanie, I want to heal your wounds and take care of your pain. May I start with your hand?" He asked.

She buried her face in my chest and nodded holding her hand up gingerly. He unwrapped her hand and examined the damage, she tensed as his hands lightly prodded her flesh. "Luckily, your spirit healed a lot of the worst damage when it reentered." Her head snapped up and she looked at Oliver.

"I promise, I will tell you everything, Babe. Let him help you, first." I kissed her forehead and held her gently as he drew a stone from his pocket. He held it between his palms until it glowed with a bright white light. Then he pressed it into her palm. I watched as the torn flesh and damaged bones reformed back into the perfection they once were.

I took her hand in mine when he released it and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. She looked at her hand in wonder and then at Oliver. I saw a little trust for him enter her eyes and made a promise to myself that, if re-gifted me with her trust, I would never give her a reason to retract it again.

He smiled at her and pressed his hands to the top of her head and the cuts and blood melted away into perfectly smooth skin. He gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Stephanie. I can't bring your hair back, but it will grow again."

I saw her breath catch in her throat and I kissed her forehead. "It's cute. You should have done this a long time ago." I said in an attempt to lighten the mood. She lowered her eyes and became silent, making me worry that I'd said the wrong thing. I just didn't want her to worry about how she looked. A moment later she lifted her eyes to mine and whispered, "Thanks, Ranger."

Oliver looked at me and then at Stephanie. "Stephanie, I'm afraid that I am going to need to examine your wounds. All of them. Do you trust me to be gentle with you?"

My blood ran cold. Truro wouldn't have been gentle with her at all. In fact, I had seen some of his work close up and I was concerned about how injured she could be. She pressed her hands to her face and snuggled closer to my chest, squeezing her legs together.

Oliver sat back and waited patiently for her decision.

I gently massaged her neck, holding her close to me. I kissed her cheek and noticed that her face was still a bit battered and bruised. "How about you let him take care of the sores and cuts on your face? That will feel better," I said gently, tipping her chin up.

She hesitated for a second and then nodded. Oliver rose and moved in closer, not lifting his hands until she gave her permission by presenting her face to him. After a few moments, she turned to him and lifted her face up, keeping her eyes closed. He brushed whisper-like strokes over her face with his fingertips. Each stroke removed a bruise, a cut, a sore.

When he pulled away, she was restored to new. Her eyes fluttered open and she touched her face gingerly, pressing areas that had been tender. I saw relief flood her face and then a touch of panic. She looked at him. He was standing with his hands clasped in front of him. She pressed close to me and I was grateful that she felt protected.

I tipped her chin up and looked into her eyes. "Babe, I know that you are having a hard time with the idea of a man being close to you like that, but he is a professional. And he will take away your physical pain. I'm worried about what Truro did to you." I felt my eyes blazing when I said his name, death wasn't a worthy punishment, but it was the choice I had at the time.

"It's important to let him make sure there is no damage that could cause you problems in the future. Do you understand?" I couldn't believe I had to have this conversation with her. I couldn't believe what had happened to her and I was appalled at my own failure to keep her safe.

She released a shaky breath and a few tears spilled down her cheeks, then she nodded. "Yes."

I hugged her. "I'm not leaving you. I'm right here, but I need to give him room, so I'm going to sit here next to the bed and keep my arms around you."

"No," she half whispered, half croaked. "I don't want you to leave." More tears spilled down. She looked at Oliver, "Please, don't make him leave me." She was shaking with fear.

Oliver nodded. "C, just sit up against the headboard and she can lie on her back against you. That will give me the room I need."

I nodded and sat as Oliver suggested. Then I pulled Stephanie gently onto her back, amid groans and whimpers that tore at my heart, and placed her head on my lap. I knew that she would be in pain, but when she gave a sharp cry as she settled back, my eyes shot to Oliver. His lips were compressed. He had pulled the curtain around the bed and covered her with a sheet before beginning his physical exam of her.

He checked her legs and arms. I helped to ease my jacket off her and then her shirt so he could check her back and chest. Her arms flew to cover herself and I spoke soothing words to her, and then rubbed my hands down her arms in a gentle motion to help her relax. She did a little. I helped roll her onto her side so Oliver could check her back and then I lowered her gently down to her back. She gave a couple of cries and I stroked her head and told that she was brave. He healed a couple of broken ribs and some cuts on her chest and then moved to her legs.

Stephanie did great through the examination, but when he pulled stirrups up out of the bed, she curled up into a fetal position and clung to the sheet, burying her face into my stomach. "Where's Shayla?" I asked. She was a female healer, though not as talented as Oliver, but it might have made Stephanie more comfortable.

"She's out on a mission. I'm it right now. Stephanie needs to be examined." My eyes hardened at the thought of the blood I had seen on her legs and I nodded.

I lightly tugged on her shoulders and caressed her cheek as I laid her back onto the bed with her head pressed into the pillow. I leaned across her waist and rested one arm on the bed at her other side. Then I leaned my head onto my fist and I stroked her cheeks, wiping away tears with my other hand. She was crying freely and I leaned up to gather her into my arms. "You can do this, Babe. He doesn't want to hurt you, he wants to help you. I'm sorry there's not a woman here, but he's one of the best healers and he'll make you feel better."

She nodded and pressed her hands to her face, crying so hard that her body shook. I looked at Oliver and nodded. I heard him lift up the sheet from the bottom and felt it settle against my back. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and I started talking to her gently as he examined her wounds. My heart was being squeezed by a vice, I decided. Her cries and whimpers, gasps of pain and sobs hit me with the force of a Mack truck. In fact, I was beginning to think that I could survive being run over by a Mack truck better than this experience.

Oliver finally stood up, covered her with the sheet, and said, "Okay. C, I have to go and mix up some elixir for her."

"Elixir?"

"Well, the only way to heal a wound is to physically touch it," this comment brought a whimper from Stephanie, "or to heal it from the inside out with something that is designed for that particular injury. I'm going to go with healing it from the inside out. Anything else would be too personal." I nodded and hugged her close.

"Any word on Diesel?" I asked Oliver. He shook his head and gave me a look that said "later" before turning and leaving to go mix Stephanie's elixir.

"Where is Diesel?" She asked when he left.

"I'm not sure, Babe. You know how Diesel is. He pops in and out of trouble faster than we can even think about it." But I was concerned for his whiny ass. I made a mental note to get Oliver aside after we got Stephanie to sleep.

Oliver was gone for about twenty minutes. When he returned, he had a deep red liquid in a high ball glass and some clothing for Stephanie to put on. "This should take about an hour to work. It won't taste great, but you have to drink all of it. You may feel really funny for a while after you drink it and you're going to want to drink something else, but you can't. No food or drink for the full hour. I'll come back and see how you are after that time."

I handed the glass to her and watched as she sniffed the contents and made a face. "The alternative is not something you're ready to mess with, Babe," I told her.

She nodded and took the glass. I watched as she choked down the contents. I'd had to take one of Oliver's elixirs in the past and knew they could be completely awful. When she was finished, I watched as she held her throat and swallowed often. "Ugh. This stuff is terrible! I don't know if I can make it the whole hour."

"Why don't I help you get dressed and tell you what happened, then explain things to you?" She looked at me skeptically and I added, "I'll also let you ask any questions you want and I will answer them without sidestepping."

She stared at me for a moment, still holding her throat, and nodded.

_Here goes nothing._


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

I helped Stephanie into the blue and silver silk wrap Oliver brought and covered her with the sheet, tucking her under my arm at my side. She felt good there. I took a moment to reign in my thoughts and enjoy her closeness before I spoke.

"Okay, Babe. About eight years ago, I was on a special assignment to Uzbekistan. We were looking for an assassin who taken out some U.S. government officials in several countries. One day, I was undercover on an assignment in Tashkent and this strange guy comes up to me. He tells me that we're looking for the same guy and we're working together on the case, didn't give me an option to say no." I'd decided that the only way she would understand it was if I started at the very beginning.

"Anyway, I told him to get lost, but the guy was such a leech. Everywhere I went he just showed up and it seemed like the angrier I got, the funnier he thought it was." I looked at her. She was staring at my face, recognition dawning in her blue eyes. "You know who I'm talking about."

She nodded. "Diesel."

I gave her a small smile and kissed her forehead. "I guess that you've had a similar experience." I got an eye roll in response. _That's my Babe._ "Okay, so I couldn't get rid of him. We eventually found the guy and in the process of trying to apprehend him. I got shot, right through the heart." She stiffened and I squeezed her. "Don't worry, Babe. I'm here, aren't I?"

She nodded and relaxed against me. "I remember looking at Diesel with this realization that I was dying and he said he could keep me alive, but my life wouldn't be the same. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. He asked if I were willing to pay any price to stay alive and I said, yes." I looked at her and she looked dazed. "Babe, you okay?"

She nodded again. "I've just never heard you speak so much in one sitting before."

I brought my forehead down and touched hers, staring into her eyes, and felt myself getting lost. "I'm actually quite articulate and I'll talk a lot more from now on." She looked surprised and then confused. "Do you want me to continue?"

"Yes," she said.

"Alright. Well, I passed out after I told him yes and I woke up here. Oliver was tending to my wounds and healing me. I have to say that I was surprised and scared out of my mind that some guy was putting his hands on me and my body was healing." I looked at her and realized that she hadn't been phased. "You weren't surprised."

"I already suspected that Diesel was, uh, special. Knowing there's someone around that can heal me isn't such a shock when I know that there are people who can fart fire and burn people with their bare hands," she said quietly.

I gave her a squeeze. "Well, they explained to me what happened. I'd remembered getting shot and that I told Diesel I'd do whatever it took to stay alive. I felt I was still too young to die. They told me about the IAPSA, the International Alliance of Persons of Special Abilities. We're at the headquarters now. They said that in accepting life from them, I now belonged to them." I held my breath for a minute knowing that she would realize what had happened to her as I spoke. "I would have been pissed, except I realized that I would have been dead and I wasn't ready."

I stroked her back as her eyes started to focus and narrow a bit. "When they told me about the organization, I could only look at them and tell them that they were wrong. I didn't have anything to offer them."

"Ranger," she said slowly.

I looked down at her.

"What happened to me?" She asked, licking her lips. Dammit. When she did that, it sent shockwaves through my whole body and I felt myself get hard. _Carlos, you're sick. She's just had a horrific experience at the hands of a sadist._ The reminder of what had happened to her did the trick to calm down my raging libido.

"Truro can steal souls. That is his special ability. I'm sure that Diesel explained, and you've seen through your run-ins with Wulf, that not all people with special abilities, or unmentionables as we say, use them for good. He had nearly wiped you out. When we found you, your mind was already gone and you were barely alive," I told her in the most gentle manner I could manage.

"I was a sh-shell. Just like you said?" She whispered and her eyes started to roll back into her head.

I hugged her and shook her slightly. "Babe! Stay with me."

She opened her eyes and focused on me once again. "And you brought me here to save me?"

"Well, I had to kill Truro first. I didn't have a choice. Your soul was inside him, he'd trapped you there." She looked perplexed and scared. "I'm going to have to tell you about this to make you understand, but you're not going to like it. Do you want to take a break?" I asked.

She stared at me for a minute and then said, "No, I need to know."

I sighed. This was going to be difficult and, yet, I had to admire her for her bravery in wanting to hear about it so soon. "Okay." I pulled the story together in my mind for a moment before I spoke again. "Truro has the ability to look into a person's eyes and find their soul. I don't have the ability, so I don't know what it all entails, but he can get in their head and just take them. It can take a while with some people, but he's very good at it." She tensed up and horror came across her features.

"When we found you, he already had you to the point where there was only enough left of you to know that," I had to stop to swallow, "you were in pain. When I looked in your eyes, _you_ weren't there anymore. The only way to get a soul back is to kill the person who has it. I had to shoot him in the head, but the bullets had to pierce your flesh first. Your blood had to be present so that your soul would come back to find you. So, I had to put your hand in front of the bullets and that is how your hand got injured."

Her hand went to her mouth and she gasped. "How did you do it?"

"I have the ability to freeze time. I can stop it completely or I can just slow it down so that I can, say, walk in front of a bullet and position the person so they get hit or so they don't get hit. I took you over and put your hand on his forehead in the path of the bullets." I explained and then I took her hand and kissed the spot where the bullets had entered. "I knew that Oliver could heal your hand, but it was still hard for me to willingly cause you pain."

She pondered everything for a moment and then asked, "There are people out there who can just _do_ this, just take whatever they want with their abilities?"

I nodded. "The world is full of bad people."

"And your job is to chase them down. Do you kill all of them?" She asked, staring at me with a look I couldn't place.

"I can honestly tell you that we don't often kill them. Mostly we are given a target to track and the right to incapacitate their abilities. It means that we have a special magic, if you will, that we can put on them to shield their abilities from being used. We aren't allowed to kill an unmentionable without special permission. If we try, the punishment is death." I told her quietly. "We could only kill Truro because we'd been given permission by the Board of Advisors or by the High Commander himself. We got permission for Truro because of what he was doing to you."

"I'm confused," she said. "Hasn't he done this to more people than just me?"

"Yes."

"Then why now?" Her eyes were searching mine.

"Because we had sufficient evidence to prove that it was him this time. Also, we knew that he was escalating and he was too dangerous to ignore. However, it was mostly because I asked them to let me save you." I felt my voice fade out on the last part. _What the hell?_ What was it about her that made me lose all of my senses?

"You got permission. But you said that when Diesel saved you, you had to become part of this Intergalactic Special People thing. Why did they let you save me?" She asked. _My God, she is smart_. I recognized the second the realization hit her. "Oh my God. You didn't do that to me, did you?"

"I'm sorry, Babe. I didn't have a choice. You were too far gone to ask and I couldn't just let you die." My chest was tight and I felt as if I couldn't breathe. She was angry. Really angry. I worked to maintain my control and keep my voice even. "I never would have done it without your permission otherwise."

She scooted out of the bed and stood, pacing back and forth. I was happy to see her up and walking around because it meant that Oliver's elixir was working. "So, you just made the decision for me?" She asked, her blue eyes flashing. "What kind of life does that mean for me, Ranger?"

I slowly closed my eyes as sorrow filled my heart. It washed over me in a wave. "You'll have to keep it secret, you may have to disappear at the drop of a hat and go away…"

"Just like you do now?" She interrupted me.

"Yes."

She put her hands on her hips. "What if I want a normal life someday?"

"You have two years mandatory contract fulfillment and then you can do whatever you want," I explained. "If you want to keep working for them, you sign another contract. It's not a life sentence. But Babe, death is forever."

She stopped and looked at me. "I really was dead."

I nodded. "Pretty much. Everything that made you _alive_ was gone."

She came back to me and cuddled into my side. "But I'm not _unmentionable_. What could I possibly do for them? Filing? Searches?""

"They wouldn't have agreed to it if you weren't unmentionable, Babe." I waited a moment for that comment to sink in.

She slowly sat up and looked into my eyes. "What do you mean? That I have special super human abilities?"

I nodded. "Something like that. Don't worry about it right now, Babe. They'll help you figure out what you can do. They have a very strict training program." Oops, probably telling her about training right now wouldn't be such a great idea.

"Training? Ranger! I hate running!" She moaned and buried her face in my chest.

I lowered my head and kissed her head, feeling her smooth skin beneath my lips. "You'd hate even more to be chased by some big baddie that you couldn't outrun. You want to be the best you can be."

She shook her head. "I just want to be adequate."

I tilted her face up and gazed into her eyes. "You'll never _just_ be adequate, Stephanie Plum." My lips trailed kisses over the side of her head and felt the bristles of hair Truro had left behind tickling them.

I saw a blush creep into her cheeks and she pressed close to me. "That reminds me. I need a razor and a wig."

I smiled at her. "Razor, yes; wig, no. You look amazing."

She lightly punched my chest. "Stop." I was happy here holding her. But I knew that as soon as her healing was complete, life would change. She yawned and I pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Can you lay down for a bit here, Babe? I want to go brief Batiste, the High Commander, on everything that happened. Will you be okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "I feel much better. All of my pain is gone." A troubled look crossed her face and I gathered her into my arms. "It's okay. I knew that someday something like this could happen to me. He was just so … horrible, Ranger."

I sighed and squeezed her. "I'm so sorry that I failed you."

She pulled back and looked at me. "I never thought you failed me. He did a lot to throw you off and you still found me. He killed that girl. I knew that you and Joe would think that it was me. Oh my God! Joe! Does he know that I'm alright? He'll be worried."

Morelli. I cursed in my head. "I'll notify Morelli after I brief Batiste." I kissed her cheek. "I know how important he is to you."

Another strange look crossed her face. "Thanks. I'll be glad if he's not worried."

"Do you want to talk to him?" I offered.

"No, I just want him to know I'm okay. I don't really know what I can say to him right now." She looked up at the ceiling. "We've been off for a couple of months and now with this new development…" She trailed off and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about how this would affect your future with Morelli," I said quietly.

She lowered her hands and sent me a sharp look. "There never was a future for us, Ranger. He wanted Burg and I wanted anything but."

Her words started a slow burn in my heart that had my pulse racing. "I see."

"Find out about Diesel and tell Joe. I really want to know how Diesel is," she pleaded. "If Joe needs to talk to me, I'll do it, but try to hold him off. I don't know if I'm ready for it or not."

I nodded and bent to place a kiss on her forehead. "No problem, Babe."

I left the room and walked down the hallway towards Batiste's office. As I went, I pulled out my cell and dialed Morelli.

"Morelli."

"Yo."

"You have some nerve, Mañoso," Morelli said in a heated tone. "I had my men out there for six hours and nothing happened. There was nothing there. You cut me out."

I grinned. I knew he would be pissed. "You may not believe it, but I had to keep everyone out of the way. I didn't need to be worrying about a bunch of cops getting killed."

"What do you mean? Did you find the guy?" He asked, his voice a bit quieter, a bit deadlier.

"Yeah. He's dead. Caught in the line of fire." I didn't have to say it was _my_ fire. "We got Stephanie out. She was in bad shape, but she's okay now."

"Tell me where she is, I want to see her," he said tightly.

"No can do, Morelli. She doesn't want to see anyone right now," I said.

"Fucking tell me where she is. You're not keeping her from me." His voice picked up in volume.

"You're right. I'm not. She is. But if you want to talk to her, I'll tell her and she can call you." I waited as he pondered it all.

"You're such a bastard," he said finally.

"No, I'm not. I have two parents who are married and love me a lot, man. Get your adjectives straight." And I hung up on him.

I walked into Batiste's office smiling like the Cheshire cat. The look on Batiste's face stopped me cold. "Sir?"

"Diesel is still out in the field. We haven't had comms. I'm sending you and Lynck in to find him," he said gravely.

"Wulf wouldn't hurt him, he's his cousin," I said and hoped I was right.

"I'm not so sure what Wulf's limits are anymore," He murmured.

I nodded. "Stephanie needs someone she's comfortable with to stay with her while I'm gone."

"Who do you suggest?"

I thought about it for a minute. "Tank. I know his contract is over, but he could come here. Oliver could even fix his damn ankle for me. I'm so sick of his whining."

"Tank will be fine. You know that he's welcome here anytime," Batiste said with a wave of his hand.

"Someone will need to get him for me. He doesn't have assembly anymore," I said unnecessarily.

"I'm aware that he can't get himself here, Carlos." His eyes turned cold. "Go find Diesel. He's your responsibility."

I nodded and jogged down the hallway to the medical wing. Oliver was speaking with Stephanie when I arrived. She turned to me and smiled. "I'm healed now. I'm not in pain." But the ghost of Truro was still in her head. She had a long recovery ahead of her. I could hear her fears as if they were my own.

I smiled. "That's great, Babe."

She studied me for a minute and then grew serious. "How bad is Diesel?"

Oliver and I looked at each other and he raised an eyebrow. There was something there in her ability to see. I decided to test her.

"Babe, why don't you think about him and see if you can think about what's going on?" I sat down beside her and held her hand.

"What, you mean just try to see if I can see where he's at? Is this a test? What happens in I fail?" She asked, fear growing in her eyes.

"You won't. Just try and trust me. I know what I'm talking about." I brought her hand to my lips and saw Oliver study me out of the corner of my eye. "Just close your eyes and let everything leave your head and think about him. Tell me what you see."

She stared at me for a moment and then complied, laying her head back onto her pillow and closing her eyes. I leaned forward and massaged her neck muscles and down her shoulders, whispering soothing words to her in my beautiful native tongue, the language that rolled so easily off my lips in moments like this.

I felt her relax and then I said, "It's somewhere between sleep and awake, Stephanie. Let yourself fall and watch, let yourself look, _mi Estefanía encantadora_." (my lovely Stephanie)

She was silent and I thought that maybe she had fallen asleep, but suddenly she sat up with a scream, "Diesel!"

'Shh!" I gathered her into my arms, guilt coursing through my mind and I cursed myself in two languages. "What was it, Babe?"

"He's in the house. Wulf was burning him. He's going to kill him. I saw it. He decided that he would break his neck. He wants to know where I am. Wulf is going to kill him, Ranger!" She was screaming and incoherent. _Shit_! I was really angry with myself for encouraging her to explore her ability before she was ready.

I looked at Oliver. "She needs to calm down." Stephanie was thrashing in my arms, trying to get up.

"I have to go. I have to go to Wulf, I have to stop him!" She was hitting me and trying to wriggle free of my arms.

"Babe, I'm going right now. Tank is coming to be with you while I'm gone. I'll get Diesel," I said, kissing her head. "I'll get him."

"But what if he does it to you? I couldn't handle it if he hurt you," she began, but at that moment, Oliver placed his hands on her back and started to hum a little song to her. A few seconds later, she was out in a deep sleep.

He fixed me with a stern gaze. "That will get you demerits. What were you thinking?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I'll gladly take them, but I have to get Diesel first."

The doors opened and Tank hobbled in. I looked at him and walked over. "Stay with her at all times. And ask Oliver to heal that ankle."

"What happened to her head?" He asked, horrified.

"Long story, man. Just stay with her and no comments about her head. She's really self-conscious about it."

"I think it looks good," he said with a smile. I fixed him with my glare and the smile left his face. "Hey, I'm not an idiot, Carlos."

I relaxed. "I know, man. I just got her back…"

"Go off on your mission. I'll be right here."

I nodded. "Back soon."

I walked through the doors across the hall and entered the lounge. A thin man I could only describe as lanky and billowy stood in the corner sipping a glass of water. I walked over to him. His hair was green and he had a circular bull ring pierced through the septum between his nostrils. His eyes were golden and his body moved like smoke.

I grinned when I approached him. "Nice." I pointed to his hair.

He gave a sly smile and spoke in a deep base voice, "Thanks. I like to shake things up once in a while. The eyes are my new trick."

"At least you look more catlike now."

"Hey, with a name like Lynck–"

"We gotta go get Diesel," I interrupted. "Stephanie, said that he is in Truro's compound and Wulf is going to break his neck. He's been burning him."

"That's cold. What's Batiste going to do about Wulf? And who's Stephanie?" He asked, slipping a long leather duster on.

"Don't know. She's new. Let's go. Now."

"Grab my coat, man," he drawled.

I grabbed the back of his jacket and held tightly while popped us into the compound. When I looked around, I saw we were just inside the front door. A harsh scream tore down the hallway at that moment.

Lynck turned to look at me, his yellow cat eyes glowing with excitement. "Looks like we got here in time for the festivities."


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

Lynck grabbed my arm and ran us up the stairs in the blink of an eye. I stood for a moment clearing my head and looked at him, "Next time warn me."

He gave me a mischievous look and became still, looking and listening. Lynck has the predatory instincts of a cat. He can see and hear everything for miles and he's really good at sneaking. He can also run _very_ fast, like lightning. He indicated his head to our left and we walked a few paces to a door. He opened it and we saw another staircase. "Sneaky," he said low in his throat.

He grabbed my arm again and said, "Going up," by way of warning. We zipped up the stairs and turned to our right to find another door. As we approached it, another scream from Diesel rang out. It gave me chills. I'd never heard that guy in any type of distress in all the years I'd known him. I looked at Lynck.

"Want to tickle some time?" He asked.

I smiled and grabbed _his_ arm this time. "Don't get sick on me again."

He flipped me off and I set my eye on the door and then opened it. We walked in to find Wulf standing over Diesel with his hands outspread, just about to his chest. Diesel had no shirt and he had red blistered handprints all over his torso and back, and one on his forehead. His head had slumped forward and he struggled to recover from Wulf's last attack.

We walked over to Diesel and each grabbed an arm, moving him out of harm's way. Then Lynck got his mischievous look. "Hmm, looks like Wulf could use a dose of his own magic." I watched and saw that he was moving a metal coat rack over in front of Wulf's hands. Ouch, that would hurt like a bitch. Touching metal is a big "nono" when you're electrically charged.

"You're evil."

"No," he said. "I just like to show people a good time. Got a smile out of you, didn't it?"

I shook my head. "Did you see me smile? Come on, pop us back, man. He needs Oliver, stat."

He walked over to us and put a hand on Diesel and a hand on me. Then he gave me a grin. "I want to see it. I'll be fast. Come on, you know you want it."

I rolled my eyes and turned to look at Wulf, releasing my time grip. We watched as Wulf's hands moved forward and struck the coat rack and he howled in surprise and pain. We smiled and Lynck nodded. Suddenly, we were in the medical wing. We took Diesel over to an empty bed and Oliver rushed over, closing the curtain around the bed. "Is this something you can fix?" I asked.

Oliver looked at Diesel's skin. "It's a bit more complicated that plain cuts and burns. I can if I find the right remedy."

I felt a presence to my right and looked up at Tank. "How's sleeping beauty?"

"Stirring," he answered.

"How's the ankle?"

"Healed," he smiled.

"Okay." I turned to Lynck. "Can you get him back to Rangeman? My office?"

Lynck nodded and grabbed Tank's arm. Tank pulled back. "I want to be here when she wakes."

"Fine, you can stay until she wakes, but then I need you at Rangeman. I'm offline for a while until she starts her training," I said, looking over at her.

Tank looked as if I'd punched him. "She's joined?"

I nodded. "She didn't have a choice."

He compressed his lips and looked at her. "I'm sad it had to be that way. I hope she's okay with it."

"Yeah." I walked over and caressed her cheek with my hand.

Tank crossed his arms over his chest and fixed me with a stare. "So, how long this time?"

I cut my eyes over to him. "How long what?"

"How long are you going to pull her in close to you and let yourself get emotionally attached before you pull away again and send her back to Morelli?" He asked.

I set my gaze on him and quirked my eyebrow. "Ask me that question again."

Tank looked like he would back down, but then changed his mind and set his face in determination. "I mean it. When are you finally going to tell her the truth?"

"The truth about what?" Stephanie asked sleepily.

We both whipped our heads around to look at her. I was at her side immediately, sitting beside her and rubbing my hand up and down her arm. "How are you, Babe?"

"Better," she said on a shudder. "That was awful." Her eyes settled on Tank. "_Tank?!_"

He gave her a big goofy smile and walked over, gathered her into his arms, and lifted her up for a big bear hug. "Hi," he said quietly.

She hugged him back and snuggled close for a minute, then kissed his cheek. "You're a … an unmentionable?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"What do you do?" She asked.

Tank grinned. "I could show you."

Her face lit up. "I'd like that." She turned to me. "Will you show me yours, too?"

I smiled. "I'll go first because she'll really love yours, Tank. Save the best for last."

She turned to me as he set her down. "Why wouldn't I love yours?" She asked.

"Because, it tends to make people sick." I looked at Oliver. "Do you have a tonic I can give her in case she gets dizzy?"

He tossed me a little vial. I smiled at her and said, "Okay, we have to go to the training rooms so we don't mess up the balance here."

She nodded. "Um, can I get some more appropriate clothing?" She gestured to the wrap. "It's short and I don't have anything on underneath…"

_Oh Dios._ I got so hard it hurt and I turned away to walk to the closet at the back of the room. As I went, I ran through the gamut of bad things I could think about to control myself. _Julie with Scrog._ But that brought up an image of Stephanie in that leather bounty hunter get up. Damn. _Stephanie after her escape from Abruzzi._ But that conjured up images of our night together. This wasn't working.

I rifled through the clothing and selected a pair of red sweats and a white T-shirt. There were some slippers in a basket and I grabbed those as well. No underwear. I hung my head. This was going to kill me. "I can give you something to help you out," Oliver said from my left.

I turned my head and looked at him. "Shit. Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"I can read thoughts, remember?" He said and smiled.

"How's Diesel?"

"Asleep. I sedated him. I've got some cream on the burns and I'm researching how to reverse the effects of them. I figure it's more humane to put him to sleep than make him suffer through that pain. They're third degree burns and it's a lot of skin." He sighed. "That guy needs to be stopped. I won't tell you what Wilson looked like the last time he came in here after a confrontation with Wulf."

"Yeah, I agree. He also has this obsession with Stephanie," I said, my eyes growing cold. _Oh, that worked_. I breathed a sigh of relief that I was back to normal.

"Ah, you do remember you can't kill him, right?" He asked with a slight touch of humor.

"For now." I glanced at him. "Keep me posted on Diesel. And keep his curtain closed. I don't want Stephanie to see him like that."

Oliver nodded and I rejoined Tank and Stephanie.

"Here you are, Babe." She took the clothing and rifled through it. "Um…"

"Sorry, there weren't any." _Dead kittens. Dead puppies._

She nodded and we left her area so she could dress behind the curtain. Tank gave me a knowing look. "You are so gone."

I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger. "I just have to keep remembering what just happened to her so I don't do anything really horrible."

He squeezed my shoulder and Stephanie walked around the curtain. _Shit!_ Her nipples were sticking out and I had the urge to run over and suck on them through her T-shirt. I booked it to the cupboard and grabbed a sweatshirt, then returned and handed it to her. "It might be chilly. Wear this."

She smiled and pulled the sweatshirt on and I turned around. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oliver moving. I looked at him and he was wiggling a tiny vial at me. I sent my eyes heavenward and walked over to him. "Okay, how long does it last?"

"A day or so?" He grinned at my expression. "Just depends on how fast your body uses up the juice, you know, how often it's needed."

At the rate I was going, it'd be ten minutes. I uncapped the vial and tossed the liquid down my throat. Seconds later I felt my problem dissipate. I shuddered internally. I couldn't believe I had just taken something to shut down my sexual prowess. I shook my head and rejoined Stephanie and Tank. "Okay, let's go."

I grabbed Stephanie's hand and we walked down the hall to the staircase leading to the lower level and the training area. We descended the steps and walked out into a gleaming hallway that looked as if it was encased in chrome, but I knew it to be a protective shield to keep the abilities and skills of those practicing from affecting headquarters. IAPSA also housed its holding cells down on this level for the same reason; though, the cells had special protections to block occupants from using their abilities at all.

The first room we came to was empty and the schedule indicated that it wasn't reserved so we went in. I shut the door and locked it. Then I pressed a button that sealed the room off from the rest of the building so that none of our abilities would harm anyone else.

I turned to Stephanie and walked over to her slowly. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight, kissing her temple. Tank cleared his throat and I sent him a grimace. "Okay, hold on, Babe. Let me know if you don't feel well, I have medicine for you."

She nodded and I set my eye on Tank and soon I was walking with Stephanie toward him. She reached out and touched his arm and gasped when he didn't move or react. "We're moving too fast for him," I explained. "He won't feel that touch for a few seconds and when he does, you'll see him look down at his arm."

We watched and I sped up my clock a bit and, sure enough, Tank's arm started moving up and he tilted his face toward it.

"How come he can't see us?" She asked.

"He can if he knows where to look. We would appear like flashes to him. We're moving in and out of time right now. Until things are back to normal, he won't be able to focus on us enough to see what we're doing," I said and grinned. "Hmm, hang on here."

I grabbed his T-shirt and pulled it up and pulled his arms out. Then I crossed his arms and shoved them back into his sleeves so he was imprisoned in the shirt. I looked back at Stephanie and walked over to hold her hand. "Ready?"

She smiled and nodded. "He's going to be pissed."

I smiled and let go of time. The minute Tank started moving and wiggling around in the shirt, Stephanie slammed to the floor and retched. "Damn. Sorry, Babe. I wasn't watching." I opened the vial and held it to her lips. "Here, this will help."

She drank the liquid and sighed a few seconds later. She and stood and grimaced at the mess on the floor.

Tank was still struggling to get his arms out of his T-shirt and she smiled. "Wow, that was amazing."

Tank let out a roar ripped his arms through his T-shirt, leaving it in tatters on the floor. Stephanie jumped back and stood behind me. Tank gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Steph."

She moved out from behind me and said, "That was some yell."

"It's part of my skills," he explained. "We'll have to go outside for mine. The training room was just for Ranger so he doesn't get into trouble with Batiste. The last time Ranger froze time on campus, he got babysitting duty for three weeks. Boy triplets." Tank started laughing.

"Watch it," I said to Tank and I pressed the button to release the room and unlocked the door.

"Okay, I give. What can you do, Tank?" She asked, her eyes bright.

"You'll see."

We made our way outside and Tank gave Stephanie a sheepish smile as we headed for a grove of trees. "Don't be afraid of me. I get loud, but I would never hurt you."

Her eyes widened a bit, but she nodded. Suddenly, Tank let out a fierce roar and ran to a huge oak tree, putting his hands to the trunk. He gave a hard shove and the tree fell over as if it were made of cardboard, pulling out the roots. Stephanie jumped, but then smiled. "Wow, it's like the Incredible Hulk, only without the green."

Tank rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, and I can control it. It's not like a beast, it's just me getting pumped up a bit."

She laughed. "That was cool, but it's so sad about the tree…"

"No worries," I said. "Mila will fix it. She does nature-type stuff."

Stephanie shook her head. "That is so cool, and yet, so bizarre."

I grinned at her. "Tank's not done. He has one other thing."

She looked at him and he held out his arms to her. "Come here."

She went over to him and hopped into his arms. If he wasn't my best friend and if I didn't know that it was necessary for him to hold her for this, I might have gotten a bit upset. I watched as he told her to hold on tight to his neck and then bent low at the knees and jumped straight up into the sky.

Stephanie screamed a high pitched sound that carried all the way back to me. I couldn't even see them; but, a few moments later, I heard them approaching and looked up to watch. Stephanie was still screaming, but it didn't sound like a terrified scream. Tank landed on his feet right in front of me, grinned, and then bent at the knees again.

Off they went and out came her squeal. She loved it, I had known she would. They landed beside me again the second time. She was laughing, barely able to catch her breath. "Oh my, that was just like flying!"

Tank nodded. "Yeah. I can jump a few miles. I know that I can jump from Ranger's building to your apartment, I've had to do it on a few occasions."

She looked from me to him and then smiled. "I wondered how you could get there so fast."

She turned to me and hugged me. "You were right. I did love it the best. Sorry." She pulled back and fixed her blue eyes onto mine.

I smiled. "I don't take it as rejection. I know your obsession with flying."

She laughed. "Well, I know that flying isn't one of my abilities. I tried it enough as a girl that if there was flight in me somewhere, I would have known it by now."

We smiled and walked back into the building. I stopped in the main office and told Trish, the administrative assistant, that Mila needed to go out and fix the big oak tree and that Tank could help if she needed a hand.

When I came back, Tank looked at both of us. "I need to get back to Rangeman." He hugged Stephanie and kissed her cheek. "See you soon." He looked at me. "Let me know when you're back online."

I nodded. "You know where to find Lynck." He nodded and sauntered off.

Stephanie turned to me with a question in her eyes. "You're offline?"

"Until you're settled." I put my arm around her shoulders and walked her back to the medical wing.

She frowned at the door. "Do I have to stay there?"

"No. But I thought you'd like to see Diesel before we get you settled in your room," I said pushing the door open.

She nodded and we entered the room and approached Oliver. "How's the patient?" I asked.

He smiled. "See for yourself."

I hesitated, wondering if I should prepare her before she saw him, when I saw Oliver shake his head slightly and smile. I nodded my thanks to him and opened the curtain. "Hey, you ready for company?"

Diesel was sitting up on the side of the bed tying his boots. He looked up and nodded at me, then turned to Stephanie and beamed a smile at her. "Hey, there she is."

Stephanie rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. I felt a pang of jealousy spread through my chest. I shoved my hands into my pockets and waited. After a few moments, she stood up with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry about what you had to go through just because you were trying to save me."

He cuddled her close and said, "Hey, it's fine. Look at me. No problem. It's just a parlor trick."

She snapped her head back, a glare in her eyes. "Liar. I saw you. There were red burn marks all over you from his hands. You were screaming!"

Diesel turned his head to me. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were hard. "You brought her?"

Annoyed, I shook my head. "No."

He turned to back to Stephanie. "You saw it, in your mind?"

She nodded.

He turned back to me and smiled. "I guess you were right."

I nodded. Stephanie looked between the two of us and asked, "Right about what?"

Diesel grinned and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, after which I vowed to smash his face in, and said, "He said that he thought you could see into the future, or at least be able to sense what would happen in the future. And you did."

Stephanie looked shocked and looked at me. "You did?"

I nodded.

"Why wouldn't you ever say anything to me?" She asked, her lip trembling. She left Diesel's area and ran across to her own, threw herself down onto her stomach on her bed and pulled the sheet up over her head. I sighed and started to walk over to her.

Diesel put a hand on my arm. "Give her a minute. It's been a long day."


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_Warning: Contains smut - more graphic than my usual stuff._

* * *

I waited until I saw her lift the sheet off her head and then I walked over. I sat down next to her and rested my hand on her shoulder. "I couldn't tell you about this stuff before," I started.

She crossed her arms and fixed me with a glare. "Babe," I said, "what would you have said if I came up to you and told you that I thought you could do this stuff? Think about it."

I watched her eyes as she struggled and then saw her gaze soften. "I know," she said on a sigh. "This is just so much. Two days ago I was just a Burg girl trying _not_ to be a Burg girl. Yesterday, I was a terrified woman afraid I would have to live through one more moment of torture."

My heart began to thud in my chest as her expression changed and she looked straight at me. "I prayed for death. I actually _wanted_ to die. I would have died a hundred times over to not go through that for one … more … minute." She had started to sob as she finished speaking.

"Babe, I'm so sorry," I said, pulling her into my arms and holding her close, kissing and caressing her head.

"When he shaved my head…" She gave into her tears again and was silent while fighting her emotions.

I murmured to her in my native tongue and kissed her smooth head. I couldn't believe her hair was gone, but I also wasn't surprised at how beautiful she was without it.

"I hate not having my hair. I miss my hair," she sniffed.

"It will come back, Babe. It's hair, it grows." I tilted her head back and kissed the tears away from her cheeks. "And I really do believe you look beautiful, more beautiful than you would ever believe."

She stared into my eyes and then wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me to her for a kiss that made me realize the elixir Oliver gave me wasn't nearly strong enough. She wiggled closer and I groaned when her hip rubbed against my erection. She broke the kiss and pulled back, looking down between the two of us, staring at the bulge in my jeans.

"Shit, Stephanie. I'm so sorry, Babe." Her eyes snapped up to mine and the look in her eyes stopped me. Raw hunger. I was in such a state of shock, I didn't notice her stand and put her hand out.

I took her hand and she pressed herself close to me, wrapped her arms around my waist, and tilted her face up to me. She put her lips next to my ear, which caused a jolt of desire to shoot straight through my body. I hissed my breath in as she whispered, "You said you could make me forget other men. Can you please, please make me forget Truro?"

My breath caught in my throat. I was torn between tearing her clothes off and stepping back and setting her away from me. I didn't want to make the wrong choice, but I realized that I was screwed no matter what choice I made. If I gave in, she'd be happy for now until her senses returned to her. If I said no, she'd be hurt, really hurt. She'd never asked me for this before.

'Dude,' Diesel's voice popped into my head, 'get a grip. She really does want you.'

_Get out of my head, asshole!_ I heard him chuckle to me. _Now!_

"Babe, are you sure? I don't want to hurt you," I whispered back, slowly.

She pulled back and looked into my eyes. "Ranger, I can't stop thinking about what he did to me. I may not feel it anymore, but I see it in my mind constantly. I want you to erase him. I can't remember what it was like that first time with you. When I try to imagine it, I see his face. I _need_ you to make him go away. I don't want to look for you and find only him."

I closed my eyes as a powerful wave of desire slammed through me. "Okay, Babe. But if you change your mind at all, at any point, tell me."

She nodded and smiled. "I will."

"Come on, I'll take you to your quarters," I said, leading her away from the bed and past Diesel and Oliver who were both smiling at me. _Assholes!_ I mentally shouted to them and sent them each a scowl.

As I closed the door to the medical wing, I heard Diesel say, "You know, I'm really offended that he called us that…"

I turned to take her to the residential wing when she stopped, still holding my hand. I turned to her and she had an expression of embarrassment on her face. "Babe, if you changed your mind, it's fine," I said. But my body was really hoping she hadn't.

She shook her head and looked around. "It's just that…" she stepped closer, "…do you think we could go to the training wing?"

A wave of white hot desire crashed through my system and I nearly doubled over from the pain of my erection. I scooped her up into my arms and carried her down the stairs. "Anything you want," I said through clenched teeth. _Shit._ I had to calm down. I didn't want to scare her, but I was feeling scary at the moment. I took several breaths and avoided looking directly into her eyes as I walked, hoping that it would take some of the edge off.

I remembered the room we used earlier was booked this afternoon. So were the second and third. I was about to have a mental breakdown when we approached the fourth and it was open for the rest of the day. I grabbed the pen and marked my name through the rest of the time slots, took her in, and kicked the door closed. After locking it, I hit the button to set the block into place.

I turned around and lowered her legs to slide down my body, but instead, she wrapped her legs around my waist and clung to me. I stroked my hands up and down her back, soothing and calming her. "We can stop anytime you want," I reminded her.

She leaned back and stared into my eyes, hers looked a little upset. "I do _not_ want to stop,." she said, her voice husky. "Do _you_ want to stop?"

"Not on your life," I said and took her mouth in a kiss. I caressed her tongue with mine, tasting and claiming her mouth. She moaned against me and, leaning back, whipped the sweatshirt over her head. The sight of her nipples straining against the T-shirt fabric drove wild, naughty thoughts through my head. "God, Babe. You have to help me here. I don't want to hurt you."

In response, she rubbed herself over my straining cock and smiled. "I want it however you want to give it. I want to see your face in my memory. Make it wild, make it violent. I trust you." She slid her legs down, touching her feet to the floor, and pressed on my chest until I backed up to the wall. "We're going to do this, Ranger," she began, "it's going to be good."

Oh. My. God. If ever a woman were to use my own words against me and practically have me fucking singing, this would be it. With a growl, I reached up and wrapped my hand around the back of her neck. She leaned forward and bit my chest with the force of a hungry woman. I groaned out loud and grabbed the sides of her T-shirt neck, ripping it in two down the center in the front and back simultaneously. She gasped and smiled, sliding her hands beneath the tattered remnants of my shirt and sliding them off my arms. Somehow the rest of our clothing disappeared and she was leaning against my body, naked and warm.

She leaned forward and gripped my right nipple in her teeth and ran her tongue over the nub in quick little licks. I growled and gripped her under her arms and lifted her as high in the air as I could, staring up into her eyes. She gazed down at me and then raised her legs up, settling her knees on my shoulders. Her scent surrounded my senses and I turned around and slammed her into the wall. Gripping her ass with my hands, I dipped my head and licked her, once, twice, three times.

With each contact, she yelled out a purely carnal sound. "Oh my God, Babe. Hold on," I whispered as I buried my face in her sweet, wet core and kissed and licked until I was nearly delirious with need. I pressed my tongue to her, licking and tasting. I slid it inside her, rubbing and massaging her delicate flesh. Claiming every part of her that bastard had tried to ruin.

I lifted her higher, licking lower, tracing her inner lips with my tongue and then kissing her outer lips. Her moans were loud and uncontrolled and they drove me. I dipped my tongue inside, French kissing her swollen flesh and then moved up to suck on her clit. I ran my tongue over it, again and again, until I heard her scream, then felt her quivering beneath my mouth with her body trembling in violent spasms.

I continued to lick her, unable to get enough of her taste. She was so musky and spicy. I was intoxicated with her scent and I felt that I would never be able to stop tasting her. I licked and laved until I had the feel of her memorized with my tongue. I felt her begin to tremble again and I rubbed my tongue firmly against her swollen red flesh, sucking and licking until I felt the full force of her second orgasm against my lips. I licked and kissed and sucked until she came down again.

When I felt her go limp I lowered her, not wanting her to fall off her perch. She was smiling dazedly up at me and she leaned up to lick her own moisture off my lips and chin. God, she was incredible. I stared into her eyes and felt a jolt of reality slice through my head. I was really in love with this woman. I knew I loved her, but I just now had the courage to admit that my every breath depended on her.

I pressed her close to me and kissed her deep and firm. I pressed my hips to hers and felt her wiggle in response. I pulled back and smiled at her. She smiled back and pressed her hips to mine. "Please, Ranger. Erase him."

I couldn't deny her anything. If she asked me for the sun, I'd find a way to give it to her. I looked around and smiled at her. "Okay, Babe. Let me get this place set up."

She looked around in confusion as I walked over to a panel and started pressing buttons. "What do you feel like, Babe?" She raised her brows in confusion. "Do you want a beach bungalow with ocean surf? The Swiss Alps? Anything."

She walked over to me and cuddled into my side. "Can you get my favorite place in here?"

I smiled and flipped a few switches and pressed a few buttons. Point Pleasant materialized in the room, complete with a platform bed on the beach under a curtained pergola. She gasped and walked over to the bed, not believing it was real. She touched it and her eyes grew wide. "How did you do this?" She asked.

"These rooms can be anything we want them to be," I said. "It's like magic."

"It's like a holodeck," she said.

"A holodeck, Babe?"

She blushed. "I've watched a lot of Star Trek with Dougie and Mooner."

"Okay, then yes, like a holodeck. Except holodecks don't exist and this does," I said, smiling and pulling her into my arms. "Are you ready for something different?" I asked.

Her eyes darkened to sapphire blue and she licked her sweet rosebud lips and nodded. I looked out at the ocean and set my time pace, making the waves roll across each other in slow motion, rubbing against each other erotically. The wind made the curtains rustle slowly, so they seemed to be ghosts weaving, swaying, undulating. I looked down at Stephanie and she was looking around.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked.

She nodded and kissed me and I scooped her up and settled her onto the bed, coming down on top of her. "Are you sure about this?" I asked.

"Please, I only want you in my mind," she moaned into my neck and then began to nibble there. I groaned and reached down to tease and caress her swollen, wet flesh. She moaned again and begged, "Please, now. I want it hard and I want it rough. I want you to take what he did to me and turn it into something good."

I lifted her legs and placed both over my left shoulder and, gripping her hip for leverage, plunged deep inside her. God, she was so tight and wet, it was like a sweet death. I looked at her, concerned that I could have hurt her, but she was practically purring, so I pulled out and then slammed into her again. Shit, she was rubbing me everywhere, squeezing me all over.

I spread my knees apart and wrapped my arm around her thighs, continuing to stroke inside her and reached up with my other hand to stroke and caress her nipples. I pressed all the way in and pulled all the way out, until we were both crying out. When she began convulsing around me, I felt my cock twitch and go rigid as I released inside of her. Pleasure rocketed through my body and I leaned down and bit her thigh as the intensity took me. Then I spread her legs and leaned back so I was sitting on my feet, keeping myself inside her, and I pulled her up so we were chest to chest.

I was still hard and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and braced her feet on the bed and began to ride me until a second wave hit us and we collapsed onto the mattress in a motionless heap. I pulled her into my arms and held her in the spoon position as we recovered.

It seemed to be quite some time when she spoke and said, "Everything is back to normal. Do you know when that happened?" She was smiling. I could hear it in her voice.

"I have no idea. It takes concentration to keep that up. I lost all of my concentration as soon as I was inside you," I said, kissing behind her ear. "It's a good test of my skills, though. I should try to pay attention next time."

"How about now?" She asked.

I felt myself get hard instantly. "Now seems good to me." She grinned and raised herself up onto her hands and knees. I felt my breath catch and I stared at her waiting pussy.

"Shit, Stephanie!" I leaned down and licked her and she gasped. I slid two fingers inside her and looked out at the waves, freezing them where they were. She groaned and pressed against my hand.

"Now!" She begged and I removed my fingers and slid my entire length into her slowly from behind and then pulled out slowly until I was all the way out. Gripping her hips, I carefully pressed into her again, inching in slowly, bit by bit, until I was inside her all the way. I continued, slowly massaging inside her until she begged me to go faster, but still, I refused and kept my slow pace until we were both trembling and convulsing together.

I laid down on my bed and pulled her on top of me so I was staring into her eyes. "You're amazing, Babe."

She blushed and kissed me softly. "So are you."

"Is he gone?" I asked, tracing kisses along her jaw.

"Almost," she said, smiling. She looked out at the ocean surrounding us and grinned. "It's still frozen."

I nodded. "Yeah, but it's making me tired." I released my time grip and heard the waves crashing.

"I love the way everything looks and how we look when you freeze time," she said with a smile.

I grinned. "You like the flickering?"

She nodded and started tracing around my nipple with her tongue. She bit down gently and kissed it and then kissed her way across to my other nipple and repeated the action. She reached up and kissed my neck and laved it with her tongue and then bit gently. I groaned and rubbed myself against her. She kissed her way down my chest and nibbled around my belly button. Her fingers traced the indentations in my abs and her lips kissed the indents at my hips.

I sucked in my breath when she licked my tip and encircled her hand around the base. She kept giving little licks and nips until I was straining against her. Then she closed her mouth over me and slid down taking me as far as she could into her mouth. I felt myself hit the back of her throat and growled out, "Babe!"

She laughed and the vibrations from her throat nearly sent me over the edge. Slowly, she began moving her mouth over me, gently scraping her teeth on my shaft, and sucking hard on my tip. Her tongue caressed my entire length and she caused me to yell out when she dipped her head and licked the underside of my sac.

I was just about there when she stopped and sat up, looking at me. I stared into her eyes a desperate man. She grinned and situated herself over me. We held hands, my arms supported her so she could move, back and forth, massaging me with her wet sheath. We cried out together in an intense and satisfying climax and then she collapsed on top of me, spent and happy.

We slept that way, me still inside her with her legs gripping my hips, her head on my chest, eyes closed, breathing even. We woke a while later and I was hard again inside her. I rolled us over and proceeded to make her cry out my name a few more times before I finally released myself inside her.

Afterward, we got up and dressed and I turned off the switches and Point Pleasant disappeared. She looked around the dark room, a little sad. "It was so peaceful."

I smiled. "We can always come back another day." She walked over and kissed me. "Right now, I'm sure you would like a shower and a real bed."

She nodded. "Please. And something to eat. I'm starving!"

I laughed and led her out of the room. "Okay, Babe."

She stopped and stared at me and I stopped and stared back. "You're so different," she said, quietly.

"Good or bad different?"

She thought about it for a minute. "I'm not sure. I was getting used to the "closed off" Ranger, but he was frustrating to me. You're more – open. I've never seen you laugh like this or put so much feeling into anything." She shrugged. "In some ways, it's like you're a whole new person, I guess."

"Well, I don't have to hide my life from you anymore." _At least the majority of it._ "I can just be myself."

"So, is this the real Ranger?" She asked.

"Carlos. This is Carlos. Ranger is still the same and always will be, Babe. You're getting to know Carlos," I said quietly, kissing her nose.

She smiled and cuddled into my chest. "I like Carlos."

I stared at her intensely. "Carlos likes you, a lot. In fact," I kissed her temple and wrapped my arms around her waist in a sudden attack of nerves, "Babe, Carlos is in love with you."

Her eyes grew wide and she gasped lightly. "What kind of "in love" would that be?"

I pressed my lips to hers, my tongue plunged into the sweet depths of her mouth. When I pulled back, I said, "The best kind." _I still have some demons to eradicate from my life, Babe. But I have to take care of your demons, first._

She hugged me and smiled at me. "Okay, let's find the shower."

I kissed her again and then tugged her with me up the stairs and then to the residential wing.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

"A _year_?" Stephanie shouted. She paced back and forth in front of the desk, her fists clenched at her sides and her mouth mumbling incoherently. Batiste said nothing. He was staring at her, his face devoid of emotion, but I knew he was feeling out her emotions. At the first sign of distress, he would cancel the whole thing and she would fail the test.

I stared at him, but he gave nothing away to me. He raised his brows and said, "Miss Plum"

"Stephanie," she said, looking him in the eye. I saw him suck in his breath. Only if you knew him would you know how she had just affected him. I smiled inwardly. She had just gotten into his head.

"Stephanie," he shook his head, "your contract is two years, but your training comes first. This is a year of intense training. You will not be permitted to be near anyone or anything from your past. You have to say goodbye to everyone, you will be with your trainers and no one else."

She stopped pacing and fixed him with a glare. "How do I explain that to my family, to my friends … to everyone?" She asked, her voice fading out from worry and sadness.

He studied her for a minute and then a small grin escaped his façade. "You're happy about this."

She sent him an annoyed glance. "I'm pissed."

"No, you think that this will be perfect. It will be time for you to figure out who you are and what you want." He stood and walked around the desk to stand in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. "Stephanie, this year is not just about training, but about conditioning. You have to be strong enough to walk away from everything when you're needed."

She turned to me and stared at me. "Just like you always do, Carlos?"

I wasn't prepared for the convulsion of pain that gripped my heart at her question. "No, like Ranger does. I – it's not my choice to just walk away and I do struggle, but I have to do what I have to do."

Stephanie and I had spent the past two weeks talking, making love, and building our relationship. Two perfect weeks and today it all ended. She was due to meet her trainer in fifteen minutes. Then he would take her away for a year. I wouldn't see her for a year, I wouldn't know how she was doing, and I wouldn't recognize the person she was when she returned. In the meantime, I had that year to straighten out my life.

She shook her head. "How will it be for you when one day I walk away to go on my own mission?"

In my mind, I told myself I would be going with her whenever that happened, but I knew that wasn't feasible. I felt as if she had sucker punched me in the gut. "It will be hell, but we'll both do what is needed." It was my only response, the only acceptable one to voice aloud, anyway.

She shook her head. "You son of a bitch. Why didn't you tell me this would happen?" Her eyes were hurt and angry as she searched my face.

My heart ached and my breathing was shallow. "Stephanie, I'm sorry. I didn't know it would be this soon. I just wanted you to have time to enjoy yourself, to heal … if I'd realized things would progress this fast, I would have told you sooner."

She turned away from me and stared up at the picture in the stained glass window. It was a picture of a man, standing with his hands folded in front of him and a group of people standing behind him. The man was Thomas Kelvina, the founder of IAPSA. Behind him were the first twelve unmentionables to join the organization. I knew them all by heart, their histories, and their reasons for believing in the organization.

Stephanie would know all of them when she completed her training and initiation. Roger Thoran, Kip Mangrove, Cerena Birschbach, Jade Angor, Rowena Phelpps, Harman Schuster, Dale Willoughby, Aric Manns, Victor Cassava, Emilio Stiglione, Honor Rusch, and Javier Mañoso, my uncle. I never knew anything about his double life until I was recruited. He and I had the same abilities and I found out that abilities were usually generational. Uncle Javi told me that it was likely our whole family could do it, but it's something you have to be tested to discover.

He'd been a Ranger like me and he'd become fast friends with Kelvina, who was in his unit. One day, they were under enemy fire in Laos, when a bomb flew in to land less than three feet from where they were standing. My uncle, not knowing what was happening, had watched the bomb come in and willed it to slow. Right before his eyes, it did and he grabbed Kelvina and took him away. He was able to get himself and Kelvina far enough away that they were safe before the bomb struck the ground. Until he noticed Kelvina staring at him, he hadn't realized that it had happened the way he thought. He'd assumed it was adrenaline or some freak out-of-body experience.

Kelvina, or Voltaire as he was known, told him his own story. He could control nature, and he wanted to protect people from unmentionables who used their powers for evil. My uncle, being a man of honor, immediately signed on. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, first in the Rangers, next with IAPSA. We were close, probably because we didn't have to hide our lives from each other.

I longed to put my hand out to reassure her, but I didn't feel I had the right anymore. The invitation would have to come from her. "I'm sorry, Stephanie," I said and then turned and left the office so she could finish her conversation with Batiste in peace.

I paced outside the office, hands on my hips, wishing I hadn't left the office. I could always go back in, Batiste wouldn't send me away, but in leaving I'd driven a wedge between her and me. I felt it and I knew she felt it. This was necessary. This was what we had to do. A year. A whole fucking year. And she would come back independent and self-sufficient and she wouldn't need me. At least not for protection, but I was hoping she would need me for something more important.

The door opened and she walked out, her gaze settling on mine. "I have five minutes," she said. "Five minutes to tell you what an asshole you are and you know what? It's not worth it." Panic gripped my heart. She was giving up on me?

She walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her body close and kissing me forcefully, with anger, with fear, and … with love. Yes, love. I felt it.

I took her mouth and gathered her close, kissing her firmly until we were both breathless. We broke apart and she pulled away and looked up at me. "I love you. I'm angry with you, but I didn't want to waste our last five minutes saying things we would regret later when we both needed a good memory to keep us for the next year."

I stared at her, my heart constricting with pain, pain I would never have allowed myself to feel in the past. I felt my fear surface about who she would be and who I would be to her when she returned. The ESP tables were turned. I saw her smile and she reached up and touched my cheek. "Don't worry. I've seen it and it will be fine. You just need to believe and I need to believe; we'll be fine."

I turned my face and kissed her palm. "Are you saying that to make me feel better or because it's true?" I asked, smiling.

She kissed me again. I heard the footsteps coming up behind me in the hallway. I held her close and felt that maybe I just couldn't let her leave after all. She pulled back and looked at me, her eyes sad and excited at the same time. She wanted this. She wanted to see who she could be. I had to let her go.

"Carlos, just have faith. We'll figure it all out. I'll see you next year." She pulled away and walked toward the two men behind me. I turned around and walked over to my uncle Javi and clasped his hand in a firm handshake. The only reason I could even bear her departure was to know that he would be with her.

I saw my uncle's eyes assess me and he leaned in to quietly say, "No worries, _sobrino_. We will take good care of her." (nephew)

I nodded and accepted one last hug from Stephanie before she joined my uncle and Aric Manns. Many of the original members were now trainers and worked gathering intelligence. They were all mostly not in the field anymore, except for Jade. Jade would probably be in the field until she was too old to run, whenever that might be, or until she was killed, whichever came first. Unfortunately, only one answer was a real possibility.

Stephanie looked from tío Javi to me and then back. I smiled and brought her over to shake his hand. "Stephanie, this is my uncle, Javier. Tío Javi, this is Stephanie." His eyes widened in surprise when he stared into mine and, no doubt, read the love for her deep within me.

He leaned down and placed a kiss between her first two knuckles. "Stephanie, it's a pleasure to meet you and an honor to take my nephew's place as protector."

Stephanie got a dazed look in her eyes and I knew she was shocked by the fact that there was another 'me' walking around. Javi and I were so close in looks that, without the slight signs of age on him, most people would think we were twins. As it was, they always assumed I was his son. In some ways, I was.

"It's time to go," Aric said, walking toward our little group.

Stephanie nodded and stepped into my embrace. Our kiss was heartbreakingly sweet. I tasted her tears on her lips before she pulled away and stepped between the two men. She mouthed 'I love you' to me and I repeated the gesture. I watched as they placed their hands on her arms. She turned her head toward me and gave me a final, loving look before they all disappeared from view. I stood watching the spot where they had been standing until a hand rested on my shoulder. I turned around to find Batiste studying me. "I've never felt you like this before." His voice relayed the hurt and fear I was feeling.

"Find a new object to study, Batiste, before your heart breaks." I started to walk away. _Just like mine._

"Not all pain is bad, Carlos," he said. I turned and he indicated toward his office with his head. "I have an assignment for you, it should help."

"You've got to be kidding!" I said in annoyance later after he filled me in on my mission.

"No, I'm not kidding."

"Again, how is this going to help me forget about Stephanie being gone?" I asked.

"Well, I didn't say 'forget' I said 'help' if you recall." He was laughing at me.

"No, this won't help."

"You don't have a choice. This is your mission. I put you on it because you are familiar with the target. Diesel will be with you on this because of the obvious." His eyes were laughing. I wanted to punch him.

"You'll have to control that anger better, Carlos." His voice was full of mirth at my expense. He gave me a sober look. "Keep the target safe and let Diesel do his job."

"Why am I suddenly paired with Diesel so often all of a sudden?" I wished I could keep myself from sounding so impatient, but I was practically on my last nerve today and then he hit me with this shit.

"Because, you're good partners. You may have your differences, but you work well together. Deny it," he challenged.

I sighed. "No, you're right. But I'm not saving his ass if he gets himself trapped again."

"Nice to know that I have your approval," Diesel said dryly from my left.

"More like resignation," I quipped, annoyed that he just popped in and out whenever he wanted. "You ready to do this thing?"

He nodded and fixed that annoying smile on his face. I supposed his smile was the equivalent of my blank stare. "One other thing," I said, turning to Batiste. He raised his eyebrows in invitation. "I want Lynck on standby. We made need a neutral party to calm down the target."

Batiste grinned. "Good thinking."

Later that evening, Diesel and I sat in my Jag on the street watching the house. "Are you certain?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Wulf is here, I feel him." He was staring at the house, but he said, "You know, it's offensive that you doubt me so often."

"Sometimes it's hard to tell what you take seriously," I said, looking around. I thought I saw something in the bedroom window and I lifted my binoculars to my eyes.

"I take everything seriously. I just don't feel like I have to be Mr. Crabby Pants all day. I like people to have fun when they're with me. It makes life more interesting," he said, picking up on what I was seeing. "Hmm, not good."

"He's going to be pissed when we go barging in there," I said as we exited the car.

"Better pissed than dead. Besides," he said with a wink, "you know Stephanie will kill you if anything happens to him and you were supposed to be protecting him."

I shook my head. One more complication I didn't need. "Yeah, I know."

As we reached the front door, I heard Morelli give an anguished yell. Diesel and I looked at each other and burst into the house. "Do your time thing and I'll touch Wulf," Diesel said as we headed to the stairs.

I grabbed his arm and did my thing. We went up the stairs two at a time and entered Morelli's bedroom. Wulf was gone. We were going to have to be stealthier now that he realized I was working this case. Morelli was on the floor on his back with a huge red handprint in the center of his chest and a knife stuck into his chest through the middle.

"Shit!" I yelled and released time. "Watch for Wulf." I pulled out my phone to dial EMS, but paused. The knife had gone into Morelli's heart. I could see it moving with the beats of his heart as it slowed. He would be dead soon. His face was gray and contorted in pain.

I looked at Diesel and he gave me a firm headshake. "Don't even think about it. He's not unmentionable."

"I wasn't. I was thinking we should just have Oliver come and heal him. He wouldn't know." And I wouldn't have to call Stephanie and tell her that this man she loved was dead. Diesel hesitated. "I'll freeze time, Oliver can heal him and we'll get out of here before I set it back. He won't even know anyone was in his house."

Diesel nodded and gave me a grin. "You're very good at breaking rules without breaking rules."

"It's how I get by," I said. I pulled out my cell.

"Why did you do that for Morelli and not Stephanie?"

I flicked my eyes to him as I dialed. "Think it would have been a good idea for me to take Oliver into Truro's lair?"

"Good point."

I pressed 'send' and raised the phone to my ear, my eyes on Morelli. "Can't live without me?" Lynck asked by way of greeting.

"Can you bring Oliver to me? I have a situation." I explained to him what was going on and what we planned to do.

"Hmm, you are the deviant, Mañoso. Good thing I'm a fan of deviance. See you in two shakes." No sooner had I closed my phone than Lynck arrived with Oliver in tow.

"Get in the car," I said looking over at Diesel. "Watch for Wulf."

He nodded and popped out. I grabbed Oliver and Lynck and focused on Morelli until he was frozen. I stepped back and Oliver went to work preparing the healing stone. When it glowed white, he pulled the knife from Morelli's chest and held the stone over the wound. I watched as the white light slipped from the stone into Morelli's chest and then saw the hole seal up. The healing left a white spot in the middle of his chest, in the center of Wulf's handprint, where the knife had been.

Oliver made to begin healing the handprint when I stopped him. He looked at me, confused. "If he doesn't have the handprint, he'll think it was a dream and he won't heed my warning when I talk to him about Wulf."

Oliver nodded. "Well, then he's all set."

I nodded to Lynck and he grabbed Oliver's arm and they were gone. I walked out of the house to the front porch and closed and locked the door. I released time and then banged my fist on the front door. I waited a few moments and then banged again. I decided that I would give him two minutes. After that I was barging in just to make sure there wasn't a problem.

I had my fist in the air and almost banged again when the door flew open and I was faced with a confused and pissed looking Morelli. "What the hell do you want, Mañoso?"

"Need to talk to you about your visitor tonight, Morelli," I said with my blank face in place.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Get out of here." He made to shut the door, but I blocked it with my foot. I saw his temper flare and his jaw clench. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"No games, Morelli. We need to talk," I said again, enjoying the incredulity that was building in his eyes.

"What makes you think I want to talk to you? I'm still pissed at you for cutting me out. Then you find her and won't even let me see her. Do you know what you are? You're a-"

"This is for Stephanie, Morelli. I'm here for her," I said, hoping that would make him listen.

"What does she have to do with this?" At least I'd caught his attention. Stephanie had eventually called Morelli and told him she wouldn't be back to Trenton in a while. She hadn't given him any explanation, just told him that she was sorry and hung up. I'd held her while she cried for a couple of hours afterward, understanding how hard it is to say goodbye to your life.

"The guy that gave you that," I pointed to the mark on his chest, "thinks she is his tool and is looking for her. He's decided that if he kills you, she'll take him seriously."

"Where is she?"

"Somewhere that even I can't get to her," I said. "I'm serious about this guy, Morelli."

"Fine! If this guy wants me, he can come and face me." He made to slam the door, but I stopped it with my arm.

"You're a fool, Morelli," I said to him. "Do you think that he would have stopped with just leaving that handprint on you?"

Morelli looked at his chest and then up at me. "Okay, I admit to being baffled at how he did it, but it's just a burn."

I shook my head and fixed him with my shielded eyes. "How do you think she would feel if you got killed because you wouldn't listen?"

"Maybe a lot like I feel about her trying to get herself killed and then taking off for parts unknown!" He yelled. He paced in his foyer for a minute and then came back and leaned against the doorframe. "Will you at least tell me what _did_ happen to her?"

I sighed and glanced toward the car and Diesel and then said, "Can I come in? It's going to take a while."

He gave a curt nod and stepped aside. I went in and stood in the foyer, waiting. He finally gave a sigh and pointed me to the living room. I went in and sat down in the armchair, waiting for him to sit down. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, something I had been doing a lot lately. My life was becoming one big headache.

"The night I sent you on the wild goose chase, sorry about that by the way," he snorted at me and I continued, "I got a call from Stephanie right before we met up with you."

"Before!" He stood and started pacing, talking with his hands. "Of all the low down, sneaky, underhanded sons of bitches!" He turned to me, angry and annoyed.

"Sit down, Morelli," I said. "This is going to be even longer if you don't just shut the fuck up and listen."

He glared at me, but he sat down and rested his arms on his knees and waited.

"She was being held hostage by a man named Truro. He made her call me," I said. I could feel the rage from that day filling my body again.

Joe's expression darkened. "I'm not going to like this, am I?" He asked.

"No," I said. He fisted his hand and lowered his forehead down to touch it. "He called to tell me how he had been raping her. And he made her tell me that she liked it and wanted more. It was a mess, man."

He slowly stood and walked out to his kitchen. I heard dishes crashing and then he returned to sit on the couch. "Go on." His voice was at danger level.

"When we found her, she was hardly herself. He had been torturing her and she was out of her mind." I saw his face pale, but I continued. "It took a few days to get her back to any sense of normalcy, but she made it. Now, she's out of the country for a year. We won't be able to contact her or find out anything about her during that time."

"What?" He looked at me with confusion clouding his face. "A year?"

"Nothing can be done."

"Why?" He asked.

"I can't explain it all to you, but I can tell you that it's something she wants to do," I said.

"What did she do, enlist in the military?" He asked loudly.

"No." _Not exactly_.

"There's something you're not telling me," He said, his voice laced with anger.

"I've told you all I can tell you. But trust me, if you got killed, she would find out and it wouldn't be pretty," I said, standing. "Be careful. Diesel is tailing you. Don't try to lose him, you can't. You can't take Wulf on your own. You'll need Diesel's help with him." I turned to look him in the eye. "He specializes in breaking necks and burning, so be warned."

I walked out to my car and slid into the driver's seat. "Stay on him, call me if you need me."

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Call an old friend," I said. He got out and tossed me a sloppy salute and I drove off, flipping my phone open to make a call.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_Warning: More smut. Please don't be too angry with Ranger. I realize that this chapter may not sit well, but there are some things he has to do on a mission to ensure success._

* * *

"I haven't talked to you in a long time." The voice on the other end of the line came through in deep, husky tones with a slight French accent.

"The last time we spoke, you tried to use my body for a punching bag. I had to use ice packs for a week." My voice held a humorous note, but I was serious.

"That's because you're weak. You can't hit a woman and that got you hurt," she said. "So what do you need from me, C?"

"Wulf is up to something and I need information," I explained. "Information only someone with hooks in all the rings would know."

"My information doesn't come cheap, C," she said. And just like that I felt like I was back in my early twenties.

Jade Angor had been one of my trainers. She's in her eighties, but has the body of a thirty year old. One of the perks of being an unmentionable is that age doesn't really stick. The thought of an ageless Stephanie made me groan inwardly. She and I were bound to be driving each other crazy until – until when? I knew some unmentionables were three and four hundred years old. The thought boggled my mind.

"I know, but I need to know why he needs Stephanie Plum and how he knew it was her he needed. It's important." I was driving through Trenton, already making my way to her place because I knew she wouldn't turn me down.

I could feel her smile through the phone. "Well, then," she practically purred, "when will I see you?"

"I can be there in two hours," I said.

"You're willing to pay my price to help the woman you love. Do you know how fucked up that is?" she asked, her voice filled with seductive laughter.

"I'm going to count on you being a good girl at heart." That comment got me an unladylike bark of laughter.

"Please, Carlos. You, of all people, know that I am an opportunist. You're the best and that's what I want for my information. Take it or leave it." There might have been laughter in her tone, but she was all business. I was suddenly thrust into Stephanie's shoes when she was trying to capture DeChooch. Do it on your own, or do it with my help and pay my price.

"You taught me well, you know that?" I asked her and disconnected. I had already given in. She was going to get the best fuck from me she'd ever had. I'd do anything for Stephanie, including sleep with another woman, even if it meant I would lose her. I didn't want to live my life without her, but I couldn't live if she died. She was all that mattered to my heart. I was used to using my body to do what needed to be done to finish the mission. A cold thought ran through me; the idea that Stephanie would have to do the same thing with some fucked up enemy. I knew they would train her to put the mission above her body, above her own wants and needs. I pressed the pedal down harder as I drove out of Trenton, anger coursing through me. _Shit._

As I drove, I remembered my training sessions with Jade. How she had broken me, used me, and then built me back up into a thoughtless, hardcore killing machine; a machine that would function under any circumstance and perform any task to complete the job it was designed to do.

"You're rough around the edges, C," she had said to me the day she'd begun to teach me about how to get inside a woman's head. I was twenty four and she was older and full of experience. "You need to _finesse_ the enemy, especially the women. Controlled, fluid movements. Relaxation."

She pressed herself up against me and slowly drew her leg up my thigh and then caressed it back down. "Manipulation. Deliberation." She leaned in to lightly brush her lips over mine and then pulled back to stare into my eyes.

She grabbed my arms and said, "These are too stiff, too grabby. You need to make your body move with the space around you. Feel it. Just like you feel time and slow it, you need to make the air around you mold to you." She smiled and licked the shell of my ear and said, "Women can't resist a man who is the epitome of control over these rampant carnal urges you men get. You can be strong and wild, but they must always follow the relaxed control that _must_ become part of your demeanor."

"Now, try it again. We'll do this until we get it right." And we'd had controlled, calculated, cold, effective sex for the next two months. She taught me how to control my movements, my emotions, how to possess a woman and trap her, how to get her to do anything I want. She taught me what a woman loves. And my triumph? The day I made her scream my name by using only my tongue.

She had collapsed into an exhausted heap onto the bed and then started laughing. "You're done, C. You've got it." She grinned and sat up, looking at me. "That was the best fucking orgasm I've ever had. You ever need anything from me, anything at all, and I'll give it to you for an orgasm like that. That's my price from now on."

With that she had gotten out of bed and headed to the shower. "Your time with me is done. Move on to your next trainer. Leave and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out."

I had to admit that, at the time, was one of the most enjoyable aspects of my training. And I'd always controlled the women around me, until Stephanie. _Stephanie_. The thought of how her training may be similar drove me to insanity. The thought of whether or not my uncle would be teaching her made my blood run cold.

_He wouldn't do it, but would I rather have it be Aric?_ I knew it was inevitable. I had to be ready for anything and unmentionable sex was, well, unmentionable. Stephanie would have to be prepared for all sorts of wily tricks. My grip tightened on the steering wheel. She would have to be subjected to many different techniques and how to survive rape; how to keep her mind intact while being brutalized. She would have to face her greatest fears and learn to overcome them, to control them. My heart hurt for what she would go through, but the idea of multiple men touching her, tasting her … fucking her had me enraged.

I arrived at Jade's in record time and nearly broke the door down when I knocked. She arrived at the door, an auburn eyebrow raised above her jade green eyes. Her deep auburn hair was short, very short, and sexy. Her full, pouty lips were painted with black lipstick on the bottom and red on the top; she had thick black eyeliner and mascara on her lashes. She was bad, and good, but she always got what she wanted.

She backed up and made room for me to enter her home. She wasn't wearing a bra and her large, firm breasts were encased in a tight boy's superhero T-shirt, as usual. Today it was Spiderman. A nipple poked out under his head and made his face appear three dimensional. The other nipple was covered by the building where his web was attached. She had on short denim shorts with the waistband cut off and there wasn't an ounce of fat on her body. She was pure, smooth golden skin and toned muscle. And she didn't hold a candle to my Babe.

I reached up and lightly drew a circle around Spiderman's face. She smiled, revealing even white teeth and a slight overbite. One thing I remembered from our training sessions was how much I have loved that overbite sliding over my cock. I smiled at her, feeling myself get hard. My mind and heart were working for the reason, but my body was working for the act. "Nice T-shirt."

"I know you can't resist the superheroes," she purred.

I raised my hand and grabbed her around the front of the neck pressing her backwards through the foyer and out into her great room. Her eyes darkened to a deep, forest green and she licked her lips. "I've waited a long time for another one of your specials, C." Her voice husked over my senses.

I gave her a feral grin and whipped the T-shirt over her head with one hand. My hand gripped the waistband of her shorts and I said, "Take them off or I'll rip them." Her response was to grin. I grabbed the front of her tiny little shorts and ripped them off in one yank. She had been going commando and she was shaved bare, always had been.

She stood on the couch so her face was level with mine. At only five feet two inches, she was tiny, but she was super fast and could make herself tiny enough to fit into a little change purse. She grabbed the back of my T-shirt and pulled it forward, up over my head, and then off with one hand while her other expertly unzipped my cargos. I kicked off my boots, socks, and cargos and stood in front of her, my cock poking into her belly button. Suddenly, I was overcome by fierce remorse for what I was about to do and I felt my cock dip down for a second, but then I reminded myself why I was here. _This is for Stephanie, don't fuck it up._ Jade would refuse to tell me anything if I didn't give her what she wanted and the information was too valuable to walk away.

With new resolve, I forced myself to shove Stephanie to the back of m mind and focused on the perfectly toned body in front of me, my cock growing to full strength. She laughed, and lowered her hand to rub over the head. "So, how about that payment?"

I dragged her to me and kissed her with a ferocity that belied my actual intentions. Then I threw her onto the couch and dropped on top of her, kissing my way down her neck in a slow, tantalizing motion. I licked and sucked her nipples with drawn-out precision and moved lower, biting her breasts and navel hard the way she liked it. My teeth clamped onto each of her hip bones and then worked their way up to her belly button. My tongue swirled around it, dipping in, caressing it the way I was going to caress her hot, wet core.

Reaching up, I grabbed her neck with my hand again and squeezed, shortening her air supply. I knew very well what made her scream and shout my name. The danger got her off faster than the actual sex. Jade was pure adrenaline and hormones.

"Shit, C," she croaked out and gripped my wrist with both hands. I lowered my head to gently nuzzle her folds open with my nose and flicked my tongue out to taste her. Molten heat swirled around my senses. This woman had to be the most brazenly erotic woman I knew and she still couldn't compete with Stephanie's sweetness, the purity of how she loved me. And I was a bastard for being here with another woman, but I wouldn't settle for anything less than what I needed; I wouldn't give any less than what was required.

_Focus, you need this info._ I flattened my tongue against her, knowing just how to make her hips rock against me, and worked it over her dripping wet flesh in a circular motion. I lapped up her juices and followed the contours of her skin, rubbing and pressing. I knew that I had her close when I drew her clit into my mouth and sucked it, swirling my tongue around and causing it to swell and perk up, looking for more attention.

I drew her inner labia into my mouth, dragging my tongue along the length on one side and then the other. Then I pressed my mouth against her entrance and opened my mouth in to tease her with lapping, sucking French kisses.

My hand tightened on her neck, completely cutting off her air supply and, only then, did I feel her explosion against my lips. I slid my hand up and rammed my fingers inside her, massaging and caressing her pulsating flesh as she opened her mouth in an attempt to scream that failed due to the lack of air passage.

Releasing my grip on her neck, I checked her breathing and then stood to get dressed. I stared at her naked form sprawled on the couch and felt pangs shoot through my chest that I wasn't used to feeling. _I'm not cheating on her. I'm getting information to keep her safe_. But it felt like cheating because it was one of the many things I had to add to the list labeled "Things I Can Never Tell Stephanie" in my head. My only consolation was that I hadn't needed to actually fuck her to get her to that point and she wouldn't care as long as she had her screaming orgasm.

After she woke up, she went up to her room to grab some clothing and I made coffee while I waited. When she came back down, I saw that my handprint across her neck already had deep purple bruises. "Shit, are you okay?"

She smiled. "That was the best, yet. I think anymore, though, and maybe I wouldn't have made it."

"I was too rough," I said.

"You did just what I needed. That could last me years. Mmm, you've still got it, C," she said in a raspy tone that gave away how swollen her throat was following my treatment. She poured two cups of coffee and sat opposite me at the table. "Fair is fair. Here is what I know. Wulf has been working with Breog these past few months. I don't know what they're up to, but it's big."

I sipped my coffee and listened.

"Word around town is that they need someone who has mind control abilities. If they can get this person, they'll have it made. They're trying to shut down IAPSA. Call them the Hitlers of the outer world. They're building a small army and they plan to challenge the Board's authority," she said. "They have a way of stealing powers from unmentionables, I guess. Just hook up your menny, press a button and, presto, any skills you want at your fingertips." _Menny_ was a slang term we used for unmentionables. This news was worse than I had anticipated and I blew out a breath.

"This doesn't sound like it's in Breog's scope. It sounds more like…" I broke off because the realization of what I was about to say sent chills through my spine. "Well, it doesn't sound like Breog, anyway.

She nodded with a knowing look and I held my neutral expression, chasing my thoughts to another topic in case she was trying to read my mind.

"So, how do you know all of this? How did you hear? No one is talking about it," I said with curiosity.

She had moved to the counter behind me and was filling up her coffee cup. She laughed slightly. "Because C–"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. I got a bad feeling at that exact moment and froze time. Turning around, I saw that she had raised a soul killer to my head. _That bitch was going to murder me!_ I grabbed the weapon out of her hands and saw that, if I'd waited a split second longer, she would have pulled the trigger. She had already begun to depress it with her finger. A few more millimeters and I would have been gone. I thought maybe I should feel scared, but I was too damn angry.

In layman's terms, a soul killer could be called a gun. It looks like a gun. It has bullets and a trigger, it makes a loud noise when you fire it, but the bullets release the soul of the victim out into the atmosphere. In order to kill an unmentionable with it, they have to be shot in the head. Jade was good, I hadn't even heard her pick up the weapon, but she had underestimated my internal 'danger alert' signal.

I placed my hand on Jade's arm and, closing my eyes, invoked my right of assembly. Seconds later, Jade and I appeared in Batiste's office. She blinked, stared at me, and then smiled. "A point for you." I saw her eyes roll and made a snap decision. I grabbed Batiste and froze headquarters, knowing I'd be in deep shit if I didn't explain myself.

He stared at me. "Did you just do what I think you just did?"

"Couldn't be helped. We have to detain Jade. She tried to kill me, with this." I handed him her weapon and explained what happened at her house.

He sighed. "This is disturbing to say the least. Get her into a holding cell and unfreeze this place immediately."

I nodded and grabbed Jade, who was almost half her size already, and took her down to the detainment wing. After I took her into a cell, I checked her for weapons and stepped out, setting the lock on the small room. As soon as she was secured, I released my grip and she shrank down to the size of a chipmunk. When she saw that she was in a holding cell, she began to yell at me, cursing and kicking at the glass in a tiny little Minnie Mouse voice. If it hadn't been such a close call, I would have been amused.

I knelt down to the ground and stared at her. "Another point for me. I can't believe you did it, Jade."

I stood and walked away up to Batiste's office to face the music. No doubt the entire Board would be there waiting for me. There were strict punishments for breaking the headquarters rules and what I had done could have left us vulnerable to attack.

I entered his office and found myself staring at Batiste, Kelvin, Birschbach, and Thoran. I nodded to them and Batiste indicated to the chair in front of his desk. "Carlos, I don't have to tell you that what you did was dangerous, against the rules, stupid by all counts, and could have jeopardized this entire community.

"Yes, sir."

He clenched the muscles in his jaw and rubbed a hand over his face. "It was also the only thing you could have done. We've had more than twenty unmentionables show up dead in the past two days. All killed with soul killers. Now we know that someone is out trying to dissipate the community and change the support for IAPSA." He began to pace. "I don't have to tell you that this organization was built to protect not only us, but everyone who could possibly run into an unmentionable." He returned to his seat and looked into my eyes. "Did Jade give you any information on what she was doing and why?"

"None, sir." It wasn't a lie. She never said she was doing it. She just told me the plan of someone else. Right now, given the fact that my mentor and a trusted friend had just tried to murder me, I wasn't feeling cozy with anyone.

Batiste studied me and turned to the three Board members in attendance. "Do any of you have anything to add?"

Kelvina shook his head. "I think you were right and I am glad Carlos did what he needed to do to detain her. I'll smooth everything over with everyone." He looked around the room at us all. "It's clear we all have to watch our backs now, even with our closest friends." He flicked a glance at me. "Sorry about Jade, Carlos. I know you two were close."

They left and I was alone with Batiste. He stared at me for a moment and then asked, "What are you hiding, Carlos?"

I went with the truth over the lie, just not the truth I wanted to hide from him, "Just worried about Stephanie and the fact that I slept with Jade to get information. I hate having to add to the tab of things that I'm not sure I can ever tell her."

Batiste smiled sadly. "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that, Carlos. Just think, Stephanie could be drawing up her own "don't ask, don't tell" list right now.

He was right. I decided that focusing on the negative only made me crazy. I needed to go work out. Punch something. I looked him in the eye. "I'm going to check in with Diesel and go work out for a while."

We nodded to each other and I left.

I dialed Diesel on my cell. "Happy Thoughts R Us," he said, sounding cheerful. I knew he was bored.

"Anything going on?" I asked.

"Nada. Zilch. Zero."

"Good. Just make sure he doesn't sneak out his window or out the back," I cautioned.

"Honestly, do I really seem that stupid to you?" he asked in disgust.

I smiled slightly. "Yes, sometimes." I hung up before he could respond.

I ran to my quarters and changed into some workout gear and trainers. When I got to the gym, I started in on a treadmill and did three miles. Then I went to the punching bag and practiced my fighting skills.

I had to be careful with my thoughts in this place, but I wanted to explore the thoughts I'd had at Jade's place. The thoughts that had nearly gotten me killed. I jumped in the shower and changed into clean clothes I had brought with me to the gym. Then I set out looking for Lynck.

I found him in the medical wing being treated for a big, nasty red handprint. "Man, how did he even catch you?"

He shrugged. "Right place at the right time? What do you need?"

"I need to get back to Rangeman in a hurry." I looked at Oliver.

He smiled. "Elixir should be working soon and then he can go."

Fifteen minutes later I was in my apartment at Rangeman. Lynck left and I headed down to five to talk to Tank. I needed a sounding board. He was in my office where he was supposed to be when he was covering for me during my absences. "Tank," I said.

He jumped to his feet. "Yes, Boss?"

"Come upstairs. We need to talk."


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_A/N: This story has been switched to Stephanie's POV to adequately show her training and how she is changing._

_Warning: Some words may be offensive and I apologize if they are. I like to write in character when appropriate._

* * *

_**Stephanie**_

I looked at my companions. One was tall, at least six feet six inches, with a golden tanned complexion and sun-bleached sandy brown hair. His eyes were aquamarine and clear. He had strong facial features and a face like Adonis himself. His lean muscular form exuded contained energy and I felt that if I touched him, my hair would stand on end, if I had any. _Sexy._

I looked at my Ranger-look-alike companion, his uncle. I stared at him, cataloging the minute differences between the two of them. Mainly, Javier had more wisdom about him. There were other differences, but not many. The biggest was the lack of adoration Ranger had when he stared into my eyes. Javier regarded me with amusement, but not love. That difference alone reminded me he wasn't Ranger. Suddenly, he broke into an identical two hundred watt smile. "My nephew and I look alike, don't we, _dulce?_" (sweet)

_And he has Ranger's ESP, too._

"_Dulce_, my nephew has _my_ ESP," he said with a smile.

_Looks like him, reads my mind like him._

His smile widened. "Perhaps with me around you won't miss him so much?"

I gulped. "You have to stop reading my mind," I said.

He laughed. "_Dulce_, you speak your mind freely."

I sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll fix that," he promised. "You can call me Javi or Tío."

I smiled at him and looked at my other companion. "Aric," he said with a warm smile and shook my hand. _Yow!_ Just as suspected. Jolts. His gaze flitted over my face before he turned and his arm swept past my vision indicating the room to me.

Looking around, I was startled at our location. Before, we had been standing in a large crystal-like hallway with arched ceilings and now we were now standing in a large circular white room with a white domed ceiling about twenty feet high. It was roughly the size of an entire floor in my apartment building and there were eight doors evenly spaced around the circumference of the room. Each door had a different symbol on it and I didn't recognize any of them. The floor was white and felt like it was made of foam rubber. _Great, a soft surface for me to land on when they start the ass kicking._

Javier smiled at me and said, "Don't worry. You won't have any ass kicking in this room for a while."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, so what do we do first?"

Aric smiled and tossed his head in the direction of the doors. "First, we set ground rules, tell you what to expect, and give you the lay of the land."

I nodded, feeling nervous about the training before me.

He led us to the first door. "This symbol means health. Behind this door is the gym with strength and cardio training equipment. This will be your first _and_ last stop of the day. We have a program for you and I will go over it with you in the morning when we start, but you are expected to begin each day with a five mile run. In the evening, you will do strength training, alternating upper and lower body each day. After strength training, you will run two miles, then you're done for the day. Any questions?"

His tone suggested that questions weren't allowed, so I shook my head. _Running. Unh._

He led us to the second door. "This symbol means stealth. In this room, you will learn the art of disappearing in plain sight, taking on different personas, and becoming whoever you need to become to complete your mission. This is the place where you learn how to do anything and _everything_ possible to stay alive and meet your goal."

I gulped and we moved on to the next door. "This symbol is mind. It is where your psychological training and evaluations will take place. Self explanatory."

We moved on to the next. "This is strength. We will be sparring with you and testing you in here to see where your inner strength lies."

The next door was fortitude. "Here is where we will build your mental fortitude. We'll explain this room when the time comes."

I was really nervous about the fortitude room now.

The next door symbol was knowledge and I had a feeling there was a classroom behind it. The seventh door was Intelligence and it included subjects such as interrogation techniques. Oh boy. The final door symbol was technique and all I could think was martial arts or something that required athleticism or great feats of extreme physicality. Most of the doors sounded like too much work.

"First," Javi began, "we will test you. See where your mind is and evaluate you to see what training methods will work best for you, _dulce_." He indicated to the "mind" door and I walked over. He smiled. "Go in."

I looked between the two of them and put my hand to the door knob. I blew out a breath and turned the knob and entered. The room was empty and bright white. I looked around and closed the door and then I was immediately enshrouded in darkness. I couldn't see a thing. I reminded myself that I was in a room with four walls and a door and forced myself to stay calm. And then I heard it.

"Stephanie. Steeephanieeee." The voice of Benito Ramirez. He laughed. "The Champ has been waiting for you." I received a punch to my side and a big strong arm picked me up by the front of my shirt and threw me across the room. I hit the wall with a thud and slid down, pain wracking my body. My head was throbbing from hitting the wall and I was dizzy. _Ramirez!_ How could he be alive?

He let out a feral roar and I heard his footsteps advancing on me. Total fear and panic had me up on my feet, feeling my way around the wall. He grabbed me by the neck and snapped my head back, holding me immobilized. Then he lifted me up with his hands in the front of my shirt until my face was right in front of where his would be and he said, "Cupcake, quit your job. Come marry me. It's time for you to stop living like a kid and grow up. You're not getting any younger." _Joe?_

I immediately felt myself becoming annoyed. I started to say something to him when a hand gripped my ear and tugged me over to what felt like a wooden chair and forced me to sit down. I heard, "Stephanie, I don't know how I got a daughter that can't just be _normal_. Why are you always going out of your way to embarrass me? I can hardly show my face at Giovichinni's anymore. And why are you dressed in something so unattractive?" I smelled pineapple upside down cake and she laughed. "If you don't fix your life and marry Joseph and stop ruining my chances for more grandchildren, you'll never get dessert from me again!"

"Well Miss Plum. It seems that you thought your lover killed me, but I'm still in this war." I heard a cold chuckle and dread ran down my spine. Eddie Abruzzi. A hand slapped across my cheek so hard I felt my jaw pop. A foot kicked me in the gut and I threw up. "Really, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you would be a more worthy opponent, but now you're just pathetic."

"Hey Bomber. It's been two weeks and I'm disappointed. You haven't blown up one car. What gives?" Tank's voice. "You need to step it up. I'm down in the pot this week."

"Babe."

My head snapped up and I looked around, unable to see anything. "You need to be more aware of your surroundings, Babe." I heard light footsteps rustle past me. "I can't be with someone who's such an embarrassment to me. You can't even fire a gun properly. Why do you think my love doesn't come with a ring?"

This was my final straw. I felt my anger building within me. The next time I heard a rustle, it was close to my left. I launched myself in the direction of the sound and collided with a body. Knocking him to the ground, "him" because I heard him _oof _when I made contact_._I kicked and clawed and grabbed him by the hair with both of my fists and started slamming his head into the floor before two strong arms grabbed me and pulled me up and off.

The lights flashed on and I blinked against the glare in my eyes, then I saw that it was Javi's arms around me. His black eyes were narrowed as he gazed at me, his body still and his breathing even. I looked down and saw Aric struggling to sit up. A man rushed in through the door and placed his hands on Aric's head. A healer, I recognized the posture.

My breathing was still heavy from my exertion. I looked at Aric and then looked at Javi. "This was all what? A test?" The healer finished with Aric and came over to tend my wounds. I was still a little nauseous from being flung across the room, my jaw hurt and I had a gash on the back of my head from hitting the wall. The small man touched his hands to my wounds and I felt a cooling sensation where my flesh was restored.

Javi nodded and then he broke into a smile. "You operate in your gifts better than I anticipated."

I gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? You were testing if I would use my abilities at all?"

He nodded. "Aric is fast and quiet. The only way you could have caught him in this dark room was if you heard him. The thing is, you lunged at him before he made a sound or moved. I know that you couldn't hear his breathing." Javi laughed. "You lunged at him before he ever moved from his spot. When he moved, you tackled him with precision. You're already using your precognitive abilities, _dulce_."

When he put it that way, I wondered how often these abilities had contributed to my _luck_ in getting out of tough scrapes before.

Javi looked at Aric. "Do you have anything to add, Aric?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Aric shook his head and said, "I agree with what you're going to say. We'll have to be more careful with her."

"Great," Javi began and looked at me, "we can begin your training in earnest."

We turned to exit the room and I heard Javi quietly call me back to him. "_Dulce_, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Did my nephew really tell you that his love didn't come with a ring?" His brown eyes were searching mine. I couldn't read any of his emotions. He wasn't Ranger and I didn't know his moods, but I thought maybe I saw a touch of sadness in his eyes.

"Yes." I smiled at the slight anger that touched his eyes. "But maybe he and I have gotten past that now?"

He nodded curtly and walked out of the room.

***

Two weeks later, I stepped off the treadmill at the end of my five mile morning run. I did some stretching and then went to the showers. I emerged twenty minutes later with a sports bra and spandex shorts to match. After I tossed my cross trainers back on, I headed out into the circular room to see what my assignment was for the day.

Javi and Aric were standing in the center of the room. I approached and stood facing them, waiting.

Aric was the first to speak. "Your body needs to be stronger, but that will come. By the time we're finished with you, you will be able to kick a two hundred pound man across the room. A woman's best strength is in her lower body."

"Okay, sure. I know that women have less upper body strength than men," I said.

"Well, your bodies are designed to carry children, so your strength lies in the lower half and core muscles where you would need the most. We're going to teach you techniques that will utilize your best assets, your legs and lower body." He walked toward the techniques room. "Have you ever heard of _Capoeira_?"

"No."

"It's a Brazilian fighting technique, mostly used as an art form today, but it is highly effective and deadly if done correctly. It's a great technique for women because it uses a series of kicks, highly utilizes the lower body, and is difficult to gauge by an attacker who is unfamiliar with the techniques." He flipped some switches on the wall and a circle of men appeared in the room. Some with instruments, some standing at attention.

"You will need upper body strength to propel yourself off the ground, but the force of your hits will come from your body and your legs. This circle we are in is called a _Roda de Capoeira_, or just the _Roda_. A _jogo_ is a _Capoeira_ fighting match. Generally, _Capoeira _is used as a form of entertainment today. But you will use it to fight." He turned to the men in the _Roda_ and shouted, "Demonstration!"

Two men stepped forward and a heavy drum beat began with the sound of stringed instruments, drums, tambourine and a bell. The men began to sing and clap to the Latin beat, filling the room with a humming pulse. The two fighters began to circle and move their bodies back and forth toward each other with the music. As they moved, they began to do a series of twists, kicks, and swings at each other. The music grew in intensity and so did their moves. They went up on their hands, spinning and sending flying kicks at each other. It was hypnotic, beautiful, fluid.

I gasped when they actually started to hit each other with incredible accuracy and power. The speed of their spins and attacks was mind-blowing. The singing grew louder and faster, the music more intense, the drums at an insane pace, when finally the stronger of the two men did a flying, spinning kick at the face of his opponent and the man fell over, motionless. The attacker landed on his feet in his stance, but his opponent didn't move.

The music wound down quickly and all was silent. My ears were screaming from the former intensity and my body was humming with the tension in the room. I didn't realize that I still had my hands over my mouth. I'd covered it when I screamed as the final blow hit the man. Aric walked over to the panel and flipped switches and the men disappeared.

"Violent, isn't it?"

I nodded. "You think I can do this?"

"I know you can. Are you ready to learn?" I nodded slowly and he hit the switches again and the _Roda_ appeared with all participants uninjured. He signaled to the drummer and the beat began. Shortly after, the instruments joined in.

"First, think of it like a dance. Just follow along. We're going to get the 'dance moves' down before we incorporate kicks. Follow my lead." He began moving to the beat and motioned me in front of him. "Just mirror what I do. This will be fun."

I began to move my body the way he was showing me, weaving and surging with the music. For two hours we worked. I was sweating and gasping for breath when we broke for lunch. "That's fun, but it's really intense," I said between gulps of air.

Aric nodded. He was hardly breaking a sweat. "Come on, we have lunch waiting." He opened a fridge that was embedded in the wall and tossed me a bottle of water. I followed him out the door, taking a deep swig from my bottle.

When I got to the table where Javi was waiting, I saw a dish of grilled chicken and vegetables and smelled brown rice. G_reat,_ I thought,_the Ranger diet_. Javi laughed and lifted the lid off the pan of rice. "It is the healthy diet that will build your strength and get you in lean, mean fighting condition. You eat two chicken breasts, as many veggies as you want, and you get one cup of rice. Drink lots of water."

"What's for dessert?" I asked.

They both looked at me as if a second nose were growing on my face. "There is no dessert," Aric said.

"I can't possibly concentrate without sugar!" I moaned.

"There is no dessert here, _dulce._ Ever," Javi said, loading my plate. "Eat all of your protein. You'll need it."

***

I was screaming in rage and pain. My body was pinned to the wall beneath a huge beast of a man. His forearm was shoved under my chin pressed to my neck, threatening to cut off my air supply and he held a knife to my abdomen.

He had a knee shoved between my legs, pressing against my pubic bone and he was yelling at me. "You stupid bitch! I'm going to fucking break your cunt with my knee and then I'm going to use this knife to tear it open and leave you to bleed!" His voice was a harsh whisper and his aqua eyes were cold and glaring into mine. "You're nothing! Do you hear me? Nothing!"

He reached his hand down to grab my crotch in a fierce hold. "I'll make you mine. You'll wish you were dead." His hand bit into my flesh, working to rip my shorts.

Where the old Stephanie would have been angry and scared, retreating into denial, I was not focused on his words or his actions. I was focused on his movements and his emotions. They were more dangerous to me than anything he'd screamed. I felt him shift his position and used that opportunity to knee him in the groin. He bent over in pain and I kicked at his wrist to loosen the knife. He didn't release his grip, but a look of rage entered his eyes and he grabbed my shirt. His left arm shoved me backwards and his right stabbed me in the abdomen multiple times.

Pain flooded me and I gasped. I couldn't believe it. _He stabbed me_. I sank to the floor, looking at him as he advanced on me with the bloody knife and my mind blanked out. The last thing I saw before I passed out was the bloody knife…


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_A/N: Sorry if this seems rapid, but we have to get through Stephanie's year of training._

* * *

_**Stephanie**_

"What did you do wrong, _dulce_?" Javi asked me after I had been healed.

"What did _I_ do wrong?" I screamed, pacing back and forth in front of him and Aric. "Me? That guy _stabbed_ me, repeatedly!" I was majorly pissed. I was beyond pissed. I was livid! "It _hurt_!"

Javi sighed and looked to Aric for help.

"Stephanie, how will you learn how fight when injured if you never get stabbed or beaten or harmed in any way? There won't be healers in a real battle. You need to know how to keep yourself awake, how to defend against any attack and how to get past any pain to survive." I knew what he was saying made sense, but I was still angry.

"So, what did you do wrong?" Javi asked again.

"For starters, I didn't hit that big asshole hard enough!" I'd had it in the back of my mind that I didn't want to hurt someone who was a member of the team.

Javi nodded. "True. You need to know that none of your attackers are real people you can harm, _dulce_. They are simulations, so you can do anything and everything you want. Unload your arsenal, fight dirty. It won't hurt anyone."

I relaxed and opened up my mind to listen. "But you still made some big mistakes," he said.

I nodded. "I still submitted to my emotions. I let them come in before I assessed my opponent," I sighed. Turning off my emotions wasn't something I, Stephanie Plum, did.

"Yes, emotion can get you killed. No matter what happens, you must neutralize the situation first and then you can experience your emotions," Aric said. "We're all human, Stephanie. Even those of us who are conditioned have emotions, but many of us have learned to turn them off when it counts. It takes practice. You're doing well."

Javi's eyes flicked to Aric sharply and then back to me. "I think you should go ahead and do your evening workout and then shower and get ready for dinner, _dulce_."

I nodded and left them standing in the fortitude room.

That night when I went to sleep, I was flooded by memories. Truro over me, inside me, ripping my flesh with his harshness, and using objects to mutilate me. Beating me. And then suddenly he was Carlos, loving me, caressing me where Truro had tried to destroy me. I saw his eyes how they changed with his passion, how they darkened when he was inside me. And then I saw the big scary dude standing over me with my blood dripping from a knife and as I watched, his face morphed into Wulf's. "I'm coming to get you, Ms. Plum. You're needed and I won't have my plans ruined."

I felt hands on my arms and started to scream only to realize that I was screaming. "Stephanie!" I forced my eyes open and saw pale aqua eyes staring into mine.

"Aric?"

"We're going to have to work on you getting to shut your mind down when you sleep," he said, releasing me and standing up from where he had been seated on the edge of my bed.

Javi came through my door. "Everything okay?"

Aric looked at him. "She was dreaming about Wulf."

"How-how did you know?" I asked.

He turned his face back to me. "You were screaming his name." He walked over to the corner of my room and grabbed the armchair and brought it over next to my bed. "Lie down and sleep. I'll sit here and guard you. Just for tonight so you feel safe enough to let go."

Javi got the same look in his eyes he'd had in the fortitude room and they had more unspoken communication, then he nodded to me and left.

I woke to my alarm the next morning and Aric stood. "Today we're going to work on your thoughts. See you after your run."

I went to the gym to run and realized that running five miles today was a lot easier than running five miles had been two weeks ago. After my run, I showered and dressed in my standard sports bra and shorts combination and headed out to the center. My trainers were waiting for me and I stepped in front of them like normal.

Aric pointed to the mind door. I sighed and walked over. I looked up at him before opening it. "You have to learn how to close off your mind, Stephanie," he said. I nodded and walked through, sure I wasn't ready for this portion of the training, whatever it was.

***

A month, and then another, floated by. Soon, I had been in training for six months. My hair had grown until it was a few inches long. I mostly kept it washed and finished it with some gel and a few pins to keep it off my forehead. It was getting long enough that it was in the way now, but still far too short to put back into a ponytail.

There was a time in my life when I would have been appalled at having short hair, but I found that having short curly hair was even more of a nightmare than I remembered. It fell into my eyes when I was fighting and had become a nuisance to me. Once, during a stealth op training exercise, I had gotten it caught in some undergrowth I'd had to crawl through and my target found me and kicked me to smithereens. That had been a bitch.

I was finding, more and more, that my language was changing, my attitude was changing, and I was more aware of my surroundings. I no longer thought about dessert or pizza. Well, maybe I thought about them once in a while, but they weren't a main goal for me any longer. I was becoming a fighter, a survivalist.

Somehow, I'd morphed into a woman who got up at four am so she could run ten miles in the morning instead of five. My body had changed. It had become a statue of hard muscle and female curves. I was glad to see that my breasts hadn't changed as much as I feared they would. I had been afraid I'd be left with nipples only. If anything they were firmer, and now I had abs _and_ muscle definition. And I could kick a two hundred pound man back a significant distance with my leg, not quite across the room.

My transformation had been slow. This morning, I'd finished my running early and had a little time before breakfast. I was sitting in the chair in my room staring at the ceiling and remembering six months ago when my training had really begun. When they'd taken away my favorite things to eat and all the beverages I'd loved. When sugar had gone off the menu.

I'd been in a rage after about a day and a half. During a techniques training class, I'd focused in my abilities, and would have put Javi into a hospital with my roundhouse kick and subsequent rage attack, if Aric hadn't pulled me off. As it was, the medic had to spend some time calming Javi down before he could treat him. I thought I was going to be on the stretcher next.

He had burst out laughing after a while and said, "_Dulce_, I think we found the secret weapon."

I'd apologized, but after my sugar withdrawal was gone and I was able to just settle into my new routine, I noticed that my mind was clearer and I didn't have so many highs or lows. And I was pissed that Ranger was right about the blood sugar thing.

Ranger. I didn't allow myself to think about him much. It brought pain. I still loved him, but I didn't know what life would be like when I was finished with training. I had a two year contract to fulfill. Truthfully, I knew there would never be another man for me, but I also didn't know if committing to him would work. Or if he would even still love the _me_ I had become.

Gone was Miss Insecurity. Gone was Miss Screwup. I was becoming stealthy, I was aware of my surroundings, and I didn't miss much. I still made rookie mistakes, but the mistakes didn't make me feel like a failure anymore. I saw them as an opportunity to become a little more badass, or bad mistress. Eat your heart out Jeanne Ellen. The _real_ Catwoman had arrived. I looked down at my slightly smaller B cups. Okay, there were some ways she would always beat me, but never in a fight. Hmm, unless she was unmentionable, too.

"No, _dulce,_ she isn't." Javi's voice broke through my thoughts and startled me.

I sighed. "So much for being aware of my surroundings."

"I don't play fair. I popped in," he said, smiling.

"I should still notice that."

"Your brain was working hard," he said simply.

I nodded. "You can pop, but Carlos can't?"

"He can. Every unmentionable can pop if they work at it hard enough. I think sometimes my nephew is still trying to be, uh, _mentionable_. Sometimes he's afraid of what he can really do, but if he wanted to, he could do a lot more." He sat on the edge of my bed, facing me across the room.

I looked at him. He looked so much like Carlos and, yet, nothing like him. It wasn't like having him around at all. Suddenly, I really missed Carlos. I swallowed against the emotion that had filled my throat and looked away and I knew what he'd been doing. "I feel as if maybe you weren't talking about Carlos anymore, Javi."

He smiled and leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees. "We need someone who can anticipate the enemy's moves, Stephanie. We're fighting an enemy we can't comprehend. There have been over fifty unmentionables killed in the past six months. We don't know who is behind it, but we know Wulf is involved. We also know Wulf isn't the main player."

I nodded. "I don't see how I can just expedite my process, though, Javi. I'm trying."

"I think, _dulce_, that you have experienced a lot of what your powers are, but you hold yourself back because the magnitude of what you can do scares you. Today, I'm going to ask you to let that go. It's a big day today. You have to let it go." He stood and walked over to me with his hand out. I placed my hand in his and he pulled me to my feet.

"Let's see if we can take our _graduada_ and turn her into a _formada_ today. You have a test to pass and then you're at the next rank. I'm very proud of you. And my nephew would be astounded at your progress, _dulce_." He smiled. (graduate, formed – ranks in Capoeira)

"I like _Capoeira_. It suits me," I said. "It is difficult, but it's easy to learn, I feel like my body just flows into it."

He nodded. "It does. You are as graceful as a dancer when you are fighting, _Estefanía_."

"Hey, is there anyone around who can cut hair? I need my hair shorter. It's a distraction I don't need right now." I said pointing to my mass of curls falling over my face.

"My nephew would send me to an early grave for encouraging you to cut your hair. I know he loved it long…" He looked at me. I narrowed my eyes. It wasn't a game and it wasn't about what Carlos wanted anymore and we both realized that. "But, I can make it happen."

I nodded and went to breakfast. I loaded up on turkey bacon, two eggs, a tomato and a slice of whole wheat toast. I drank two bottles of water and then Javi put his hand on my arm and popped me out of my prison. We showed up in a little house somewhere in the crack of time, in the human world or the unmentionable world, I didn't know.

A kind woman walked into the living room where we were standing. She saw Javi and walked over to pat his cheek lovingly. "Brother, who have you brought?"

"Her name is Stephanie Plum, _hermana_. She needs her hair cut short. Can you do it for me?" He asked. (sister)

Her eyes flashed surprise when he mentioned my name, but she nodded. "Yes, please bring her to the kitchen."

After checking the length I wanted, she cut my hair and I was surprised at the pile on the floor when she was done. I have thick hair and, even though I'd lost minimal length, it was still a massive amount of hair on the floor. I felt my hair. It was now only a couple of inches long all around, just what I'd asked for.

I smiled at her. "Thank you, I really appreciate this."

"It was my pleasure, Stephanie," she said. "Anything else I can get you or that you need?"

I thought about it for a moment. "No, I can ask Javi to get me some product for my hair."

"Oh, wait a moment!" She left the room in a hurry and returned a few moments later with a tube of Brocato _Curl Interrupted_. "This works really well, it will soften your curls and keep them from getting frizzy. I think you'll like it. When you want more, just tell Javi to tell me and I'll pick some up for you. I have enough left to last me until I can get to my sylist for some more. I bought this yesterday, so it's new."

"Thanks," I said. "This will be great."

I smiled at her and thanked her then Javi nodded to me and grabbed my air. "Time to see what you can do, _dulce_."

We popped back to the training center and I went to my bathroom to fix my hair. Since it had dried, I wet it from the sink and toweled it off before squeezing a dollop of the thick cream into my hand. I thought of the woman who had given it to me and felt ashamed that I'd forgotten my Burg manners and hadn't thanked her properly or asked her name.

With a sigh, I worked the sticky substance through my hair and then fingered out my curls. When I was done, the springy tendrils clung loosely to my head and looked classy and fun at the same time. Hmm, I actually liked it. The cut gave me a falsely sweet disposition and no one would guess that I was a deadly woman. _Deadly is exactly what I am now_.

I met with the men and thought I saw appreciation flare in their eyes when they saw me. _Hmm, they like it, too._

Javi was smiling. "Oh, yes, _dulce_. We like it."

Damn. The lack of sex and Carlos was getting to me. I felt the heat all the way to my toes when he looked at me that way. _Ugh. Six more months. I can do this._

We went to the technique room and Aric set the dials on the panel. The _Roda_ appeared and I stepped into the ring. The music started and I felt the beat in my soul. A large man stepped into the ring with me and I set my mind on him, just the way they had taught me. I found that my abilities came from my will. There was no voodoo, no special hand motion. I just had to set my mind to it and when I did, the magic happened.

The AI and I danced and I watched as he began spinning kicks at me and swinging punches. I dodged, spun, flipped, and landed several blows before he fell with a thud to the ground. Now two men stepped into the ring with me. I glanced at Javi.

"This is where it gets harder, _dulce_. You must learn how to defend against multiple enemies. Use your mind to help you," he called.

I stood, forgetting the music and the beat for a moment. I focused on the two opponents and then I had a realization. I felt like I was in control of them when I used my mind to fight them. So I settled into my rhythm and a few short minutes later, they were on the ground. I fought three, then four men. I fought five and then six. When I had landed eight men on the mat, Aric stepped into the ring.

I froze and stood looking at him. "You expect me to fight you?" I asked.

"You won't kill me. We have a medic. Besides, it might just be you that needs medical treatment." He laid down the gauntlet and I knew I would run it.

I watched him move and then I focused in. I decided to try the control tactic again. I watched as his eyes filled with surprise as I caused him to fumble and then miss his attack. Then I went in for the attack, throwing spinning kicks and full body thrusts at him, pummeling him. I finished by jumping and spinning in the air, not even needing to use my hands for balance, my feet hitting his chest with full force. I watched as he flew across the room and landed with a thud at Javi's feet.

I stopped and held my hand up to the musicians. The room was silent, the medic was bend over Aric.

I looked at Javi and he had a worried expression on his face. Aric wasn't moving and the medic was working feverishly to heal his internal injuries. I held my breath. _What have I done?_


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_A/N: Rapidly moving time forward again. I'll try to fill in any holes where there would be questions. You will all find out about Aric and what happened, and what it did to Stephanie, at some point._

* * *

_**Ranger**_

Diesel and I were on surveillance duty on Morelli again. He was on an undercover case and we had to be integrated into his team. If we left him alone for any amount of time, Wulf came to him right away. He'd been burned several times and had enough incidences with Wulf now that he was highly suspicious of what was going on and also readily accepted our presence.

The last attack had taken him a while to heal from and we'd had to bring in Oliver secretly to heal him from deadly injuries Wulf had given him again. None of us were any closer to discovering who was behind the killings or what they wanted. Wulf only showed himself when Morelli was alone, but he worked so fast that we couldn't get there in time to freeze him. He was being careful and I suspected he had help, someone who was watching us as we watched him. I hadn't been able to pick up on who it was, yet.

Jade hadn't given up anything, just apologized repeatedly. She said that she felt that she was doing the only thing she could do. She claimed that she had gone in undercover to expose the person, but it didn't explain why she would willingly kill me. It wasn't something I would have ever expected from her and it bothered me. Not just because she'd nearly succeeded, but also because there was no real explanation for it.

Tonight, I found my thoughts straying to Stephanie. She'd been gone nearly a year. She was due to return to headquarters in two weeks and I was conflicted. I had no idea who or what she'd be when she returned. I had no idea what we'd have, if she would still feel the same way about me.

"Don't worry about it," Diesel said.

"Stop reading my mind."

"I can't help it. Your thoughts are really loud tonight," he grumbled.

"What are you two idiots talking about?" Morelli asked.

"Nothing," Diesel and I said in unison. Then we looked at each other. Great. We'd been working together for so long we were in synch. This was a nightmare.

As if _he_ was reading my mind, as well, Morelli said, "So, what happens when the year is up? Does Stephanie just return to life as normal? You won't tell me what she's up to or what's going on. How do I know she really is alive?"

"She's alive," Diesel and I said together.

"Fuck," I said.

Diesel just smiled at me in his annoying way. "You know, we're like an old married couple now. Shouldn't we pick out curtains for this dingy hotel room or something?"

"Shut up before I hang you upside down out the window," I told him.

Morelli just shook his head. "I don't know what's worse; the fact that you two are becoming the Bobbsey Twins or the fact that I'm beginning to understand you." His eyes flicked out the window and he stood up, carefully looking out. He leaned forward and stared. "What the fuck?"

Walking over to the door, he grabbed the knob and whipped it open.

"Hi. Gonna let me in?"

I felt heat flood into me at the sultry voice I heard coming from the doorway. I looked around Morelli to see Stephanie standing there with short, straight hair in a messy, spiky mess, dyed black with red tips. Her curls were gone. _Oh my God, what did they do to her?_

Her eyes sought mine and we connected for a minute. I felt a jolt from my head to my toes when our eyes met and I could tell she felt it, too. I gave her a slight smile. No matter what they'd done to her, she was still mine. That one look had reassured me.

"_Cupcake?_" Morelli asked, astounded.

"Morelli," she said, her voice devoid of emotion and her face devoid of expression. She stepped into the room and took her long leather duster off. The three of us collectively sucked in our breath. She was wearing skin tight black jeans, a black spandex tank top and high heeled black boots. The outfit showed off her trim, muscular form. A vein ran down her inner shoulder and continued down her arm, proving that she was fit and muscled and a formidable opponent. I could see that she had muscular definition and abs that were nearly as impressive as mine, but more feminine.

She looked around the room at us, her blue eyes cold and calculating. She looked into each of our faces, studying us, before settling on Morelli's. I felt the jealousy start in my toes and begin to rise up.

"Joe. I hear you've been having some trouble." Her voice was cold and professional.

Morelli was at a loss for words. I wasn't sure if he was ready to strangle her, kiss her, or run away from her, but I could tell that most of the struggle came from within himself. She simply stood and waited for him to find his voice. "Trouble? _I've_ been having trouble?" He shouted. He motioned to her. "You've been gone a year. You leave as a brown-haired soft, sexy cupcake and you come back as … _Trinity_ from the Matrix!"

I thought I saw amusement flicker in her eyes before she shut it down. _Shit, is that what I look like?_

'Yes,' Diesel provided into my head.

'Cut it out both of you.' It was my Babe's voice in my head. I snapped my eyes to her. 'What, Carlos? Surprised?'

Diesel grinned big time. I wanted to hit him.

'Play nice,' Stephanie said into my head.

_What if I want to play naughty?_

Her eyes sought mine out and we locked gazes. 'Later,' she sent to me.

Her eyes flicked back to Joe. "I'm sorry that you've been worried. It wasn't my intention."

"Where have you been? You look like you joined up with the military. You're all hard and muscular and … Damn it! Sexy as shit!" He stomped to the other side of the room. She simply continued to gaze at him, giving nothing away.

"And what's this? Did you go to the Ranger school of communication?" He was angry, now, and standing right in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Joe. What happened happened. I can't change it and I'm different now," she said with barely a shrug.

I saw hurt cross his features. "I don't know you."

She pierced him with her stare. "You never did."

"All of you out!" He said, walking across the room and resuming his post by the window.

The three of us looked at him stubbornly. Stephanie and I with identical blank stares and Diesel with his annoying grin. Morelli ignored us, staring out the window. Stephanie turned around and bent over to retrieve something from her jacket pocket. All three of us collectively stared at her rock hard ass.

"Christ," Morelli muttered before turning his gaze out the window. I saw him stiffen and stood up from my chair. Suddenly Wulf was in the room with us. Stephanie turned to face him in a relaxed pose. She was staring at his face intently. He was staring back.

"How the hell did he do that?" Morelli asked.

Wulf turned to look at him. "Shut up."

I could see that the tough guy in Morelli was having a battle, but the smart one remembered all the times he'd been burned and decided to stay cautious around Wulf.

"Ms. Plum. So nice to see you again. Would you care to accompany me to meet with my employer?" He asked, extending his hand.

A humorless grin, much like Diesel's, spread across her face. Her eyes were hard and glittery like ice in her face. "No, I don't think I would care to join you."

"Then I will take you by force," he said. I set my eye on him, but nothing happened.

He turned to look at me. "What Carlos? No abilities right now? Hmm, a little puzzle for you to consider."

Shit! How did he do that? It was a massive problem if Wulf could now stop people from using their abilities.

Diesel advanced to grab him, but he held a hand up. "Careful, cousin. I know you don't want me to touch you instead." Then he turned to Stephanie. "Come quietly and I'll leave your three lovers alone."

Her eyes grew harder and her smile stayed in place. "Come get me, then, Wulf."

He advanced toward her and then I don't think a single male in the room breathed for the next three minutes. She started to spin and kick and pummel him with her legs. Once, when he was close to her, she did a back flip, delivering a powerful kick to his chin that sent him sprawling. When he stood again, it was to the sight of her jumping in the air to do a spinning kick that hit him full force in the chest and knocked him back five feet into the door and then through it, the spiked heels on her boots leaving gouges in his chest.

She landed coolly on her feet and then grabbed her jacket and tossed it on. "Time to leave, boys." She walked over to a stunned Morelli and grabbed him by the arm and marched him out the door with Diesel and me following. We piled into my Cayenne and left.

"Where to?" I asked her.

"Rangeman for starters," she said staring straight ahead. She was cold, emotionless, a fighter and a killer. This wasn't the woman I'd said goodbye to a year ago, but it was still the woman I loved. She pulled an iPhone from her jacket pocket and tapped on the touch screen a couple of times, then held the phone to her ear.

Joe was staring at her. He was at a considerable loss for words.

"Hi," Stephanie said to the person on the other end. "Set it up. This has gone far enough." She hung up and met my eyes in the rearview window. The heat flashed between us again. Fuck, when I got her naked…

"All in good time, Carlos," she said out loud. Diesel and Joe looked at her as she gazed at me in the rearview mirror.

"What the hell is going on here?" Joe demanded. "Where did you learn to fight like that? Who the hell are you?"

"I'm not the same person I was. Things happened, I changed," she said.

He softened. "I heard about what Truro did to you, Cupcake," he said.

She softened toward him for a millisecond before answering. "Truro's been erased for good." Then she met my eyes again. We were both remembering how he had been erased. Then she looked back at Joe. "I am just different. There are things I need to do and I have to be on my own."

"So you're cutting me out now?" He asked, clearly pissed off.

"No. We already cut each other out, Joe. We were over before that night. You know it," she said, holding his gaze.

"I thought we were going to be friends. Do you know what it did to me walking down those stairs and seeing that woman lying in the blood and thinking she was you?" he asked quietly.

"It still doesn't change the fact that we aren't _in_ each others' lives anymore, Joe," she answered with a cold stare. "Now I have to do what I can to protect you and I need you to cooperate with me."

I saw fury cross his features. "_You_ have to protect _me_? Who is the cop here?" he asked, outraged.

"This has nothing to do with cops. This has to do with people who think that you and I are in a relationship and they want me, so they will try to kill you. We may be over, but I don't want anything to happen to you. So you're going to listen to me," she spoke quietly, but with a no-nonsense tone.

"Why do you even care?"

She looked hurt for a second. "Just because we're not dating anymore doesn't mean I don't care about you."

"You sure don't act like someone who cares."

"Shut up, Joe. I have to do what I need to do to get the job done. If that means being a bitch, then I'll be a bitch." Her eyes were angry. "Give me a break on this. How many times did you pull your cop face on me when you had a job to do and you knew I wouldn't be happy?"

He didn't say anything for a minute.

"Exactly, Joe," she said. "Now I have a job to do, so let me do it."

"You _did_ join the military, didn't you?" he asked.

"In some ways, sure," she conceded. "Either way, I have to make sure you're safe, so I need you to listen to me." He looked like he would argue, but she said, "Please." I was starting to wonder if she was my female equivalent. The words coming from her sounded so like me. Could I live with me? Live with? Where did live with come from?

He sighed and nodded. "Okay. But only because we're friends and somewhere inside you is the Stephanie I know and love."

"Somewhere," she said and stared out the window.

We were just about to Rangeman when she said, "Stop the car." I looked at her. "Stop the car, Carlos." Her voice was calm, but her eyes gleamed. I pulled over to the side of the road and she got out of the car. "Stay here," She commanded before she shut the door.

"Christ," Morelli complained, "who is that woman?"

Diesel got an evil grin on his face. "Catwoman. Right Batman?" He was looking at me.

"Shut up," I said, but I had been thinking the same thing.

'Sinner,' Diesel shot into my head. I sent him an annoyed glance.

"Catwoman?" Morelli said in disgust. He was looking at me with murder in his eyes.

"Don't look at me, man," I said to him. "Diesel said it."

'But you thought it,' Diesel said to my head.

We watched Stephanie as she stood in front of the car, waiting and listening. Her eyes were closed. In a flash, she dropped the jacket from her shoulders onto the ground and I watched, amazed, as she began a spinning kick, hitting Wulf square in the chest as he materialized in front of her.

"Shit," Morelli said.

Diesel and I looked at each other. I tried my time freeze and it wouldn't work. I couldn't freeze time with Wulf around. I was perplexed. How was he doing it?

I saw Wulf get a hold of her ankle and I knew he had burned her, but she used his grip as leverage to propel her other leg toward him, catching him off guard and knocking him back as she did a back flip to land on her feet. He fell over and she advanced. He disappeared and she stood for a moment, waiting. A few minutes later, she turned and scooped up her jacket, giving us an excellent view of her cleavage, then she slid her jacket on and got in.

"Go, we don't have a lot of time," she said as she shut the door.

Diesel and Morelli were staring at her. I wanted to get a handle on how well she was using her abilities and what they all included. I suspected she had some secrets. 'Later,' I heard her say in my head.

We pulled into the Rangeman garage and exited the car, following her. She pulled her fob out of her jeans pocket. "Does this still work?" she asked me. I nodded. She fobbed us to the seventh floor and stepped into my apartment.

"You have a key to his apartment?" Morelli asked.

She didn't answer, just strode into my living room to where Batiste was standing. "The game is up. We need to explain some things to Officer Morelli before we proceed."

He nodded. "He's seen enough to warrant an explanation?" Stephanie nodded.

"_Officer_ Morelli?" Morelli sputtered.

She turned around to fix him with a cold stare. "Do you prefer Mister?"

In an instant his cop face slammed down. "Officer is fine."

Batiste motioned to my couch. "Please, sit down Officer Morelli."

Joe sat and Batiste proceeded to introduce himself and explain to him about unmentionables and about Wulf. He ended with the fact that it was now time to put Morelli into protective custody.

"Wait," he said, standing up and pacing. "So, you're saying that these three are really some sort of _super_heroes?" He asked motioning his hand toward the group.

Batiste hesitated. "For lack of a better term, yes."

"You are all crazy," he muttered.

His head snapped up and he looked at Stephanie. "How did you do that?" Then he snapped his head toward Diesel. "And you!"

He stood motionless and I could tell Stephanie was talking to him. I was starting to get annoyed and realized maybe I could use some more training myself. Javi had always told me I could do it, but it'd never been an interest … until now.

Emotions played across his features. Anger, confusion, sadness, and then resignation. "This protective custody, will I have bodyguards?"

Stephanie nodded. "Only the best."

"And what do I do if we're invaded?"

"You won't be. These people can't get to where we're taking you," Batiste said. "But, in case there's a breach, you will have someone who can adequately protect you and others on standby who can get there fast, if needed. You realize that it is of utmost importance you never tell anyone about this?"

Joe looked annoyed. "Who would believe me?"

Batiste smiled faintly. He turned to Stephanie. "Are you ready to take him there?"

She nodded.

"Are you guarding me?" Morelli asked Stephanie. I could only hope not.

I saw Stephanie flick an amused glance my way. _Babe, it's totally unfair of you to read my mind._

'Then you'd better brush up on your skills, Carlos,' she answered back to my mind.

I couldn't have agreed more.


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

_**Stephanie**_

I put Ranger's Bugatti into gear and sped out of the parking garage with Morelli in the passenger seat beside me. I was doing in excess of eighty through town and he was gripping the 'oh shit' handle above his head. "You're going to get a ticket," he said.

I smiled at that. "They could try to stop me, but I'd change their minds," I said in my perfected 'dangerously quiet' voice.

"So, is that what you do? Read peoples' minds and talk to them in their heads?" he asked.

"No, we can all do that if we want," I said. "My abilities are a little more specialized."

He stared at me. "Okay, what can you do?"

"There may be ears listening. I'd rather keep my talents hidden for now," I said. We were on Route One now and I was nearing two hundred miles per hour. I wasn't worried about my excess speed or other drivers because I knew when and where people would be. It wasn't my intention to harm an innocent bystander, but there were no surprises in store for me, so I let myself go. I also knew that there were no cops out patrolling on this afternoon.

"Shit!" Joe yelled when he looked at the speedometer. "I think I'm getting turned on!"

I resisted my Burg eye roll. I'd given it up along with pineapple upside down cake and Pino's pizza. "You always were a fast one, Joe," I quipped.

He looked at me. "I'm sorry that I never saw you as someone capable of taking care of yourself."

I picked up my speed. "Maybe I wasn't a year ago, but I wanted to be."

"Not many people let you be yourself, including me," he said sadly. "And that's why I lost you."

I nodded. "Yes, that's why."

"What if I changed?"

"I've outgrown you," I said softly while slowing down so I could hit the exit. "We're going to be there in a minute. Aric is the guy who will be staying with you. He's good. If you want, he'll even teach you a few things, say, if you wanted to learn to fight the way I do." I threw a grin at him.

"You still smile."

"When there's something to smile about I do," I said, easing into the park and ride lot. My senses were on overload. I was looking five, ten and fifteen minutes into the future at all times, watching for the time when Wulf would suddenly pop up. I didn't see him, so I knew that I'd beaten the timeframe. I got out and walked around to stand beside Joe to escort him to Aric.

Aric smirked at me. "There's blood on your heels."

"Wulf's. I need to wash them, but haven't had time." Joe looked down at my heels. "Take care of him. He's a good friend."

"You know it," he said, then pulled me into his arms and kissed me passionately before turning and grabbing Joe's arm. "You know where we'll be."

I nodded and walked back to the car as they flashed out of my sight. I wished I could see Joe's reaction when they popped to the safe house.

I reflected on Aric as I drove back to Rangeman. I was remembering the day I'd nearly killed him. We'd both been surprised by my ability to use my mind to control the moves and actions of others, and how dangerous it really was when I did it.

However, after the three of us discussed it, we knew it had to be kept secret. I used my ability in practice, but I had hidden it from everyone else. As far as anyone knew, I could see into the future and that was it. The scariest thing was that I could do far more with my mind than even I could comprehend. Day by day, I was gaining bits of knowledge about how I could shape the world around me.

My mind wandered down memory lane over the last six months of my training. I had flashes of sparring with Aric and Javi, them grilling me, being mentally and physically abused by AI men, and even sexually abused to be sure I could handle it mentally and emotionally after Truro. Then there were the images of Aric. I learned things about my training that had made me very angry with Carlos. Things that he'd had to do and things that I knew I would have to do.

I hit the accelerator, my mind always working forward, inching up my speed as I had flashes of naked skin and wild, controlling sex. There were images of me learning techniques to control a man, learning how to use my mind to paralyze a man when I pleasured him. Did I want to do that? I had fought it, but eventually I'd come to understand that my body had to be about reaction and the mission. My mind could remain mine, my heart could be where I wanted it, but my body was a tool.

Sex with AI men didn't count in my mind. It was more like fantasy. But the day when I saw his aqua eyes gazing at me after he'd woken up, I completely lost it. It had taken the healers nearly a week to figure out what I'd done to him. How my mind had paralyzed his. The tears came and all the frustration and pain from the past six months had risen to the surface. I told him I was sorry and begged him to forgive me.

He sat up to grab my upper arms, but the minute he touched me we were both lost. We kissed, a lot, but I had pulled away. There had been sexual tension during our training sessions that had ended with anger and violence toward each other. I knew that Carlos was the only one for me, even if I did feel attraction for Aric. Then there was the day I was told I had to put my AI 'practice' to the test and I'd had to choose between Aric and Javi. I knew there was no way I could choose Javi. He and Carlos were related.

I'd had no choice but to choose Aric and I had dominated him. I had him begging and completely spent within mere minutes, and I knew I could overcome any man with my mind, when needed. However, the whole experience backfired because Aric now couldn't, or wouldn't, keep his hands off me. I wasn't sure how this would play out and could only hope that he would be smart enough to control himself if we were ever in the same room with Carlos. I didn't love Aric, but maybe he loved me. And I didn't want to hurt, or lose, Carlos.

I also knew something else. I knew that Carlos had gone through the same thing, and I knew about Jade. Aric, in a jealous fit, had told me what he had done with her the day I left for training. I also knew that it wouldn't be the last time it would happen with other women on any given mission. So I'd had to come to grips with the fact that we wouldn't always be able to swear fidelity to each other. It begged the question, was I okay with it? I'd thought about it for a long time, but I decided that probably because of it, Carlos was even more the perfect man for me. We both understood this aspect of our jobs and that it couldn't change for at least two years on my part. Maybe I wasn't really okay with it, but I understood it. I'd made the decision that we would cross that bridge when we came to it. But I was still going to give Carlos hell, just to see if I could get under his skin. This was the new Stephanie, and maybe the new Stephanie was a little afraid the same Carlos wouldn't accept the things she'd had to do.

When I got back to Rangeman and pulled into the parking garage, Carlos was waiting for me by the elevator. I got out of the car and tossed the keys to him. "Where's Batiste?"

"Gone."

I nodded and looked at him. He looked back at me. We both had our blank stares on, neither one willing to be the first to give in. I pushed my coat aside and put my hands on my hips, noticing that his eyes flicked to my breasts. My nipples hardened and his eyes darkened. Then, just to piss him off, and because I could, I popped myself up to his apartment.

Since I needed to, I went to the kitchen and got some cleaner and a paper towel and cleaned Wulf's blood off my heels. I was going to have to remember about spiked heels and the force of my kicks. Though, I had to admit I wasn't sad about causing him bodily harm.

I washed my hands and then I laughed as I sat on the couch, waiting. I knew he would eventually come up to his apartment and, maybe it was childish, but it was the most fun I'd had in months. And it gave me time to relax and detox from the day I'd had. I did want to have a normal conversation with him and I wanted to see if I would be able to be open with him again.

About twenty minutes later, I was standing in the corner of the room, hidden from view of the door, staring out the window when I heard the lock click and the door open. I waited. His keys hit the dish, the door shut, footsteps approached … one, two, three … a sigh. Silence. Another sigh. Five more footsteps and the fridge opened, then the clink of glass. Then I heard the sound of the top being popped on a bottle of Corona. A long swig. Then footsteps headed my way.

I stepped out of the shadow just as he came around the corner to go to his room. He jumped. I'd surprised him. Tamping down the laughter than threatened to escape, I said, "You need to be more aware of your surroundings."

He stared at me and then said, "Babe."

"I'm serious Carlos. Were you that depressed that I left that you weren't aware I was here?" It was a challenge. His hand snaked out to grab mine, but I'd seen it already in my mind and I was quicker. I had a hold of his wrist and bent his arm up and behind his back. "Answer me."

I watched emotions go through his mind as he struggled with being manhandled by a woman. Then he laughed. "Your abilities have me at a disadvantage, Babe."

I let go and stepped back. "Don't even think about it." I held up a hand to stop his advancement toward me. He was going to kiss me. I saw his thoughts and I wasn't ready to go there, yet.

"Babe."

"I can't talk to you when your arms are around me. There are things to discuss before we travel down that road again," I said heading over to the couch and taking my seat.

"Exactly what do you want to discuss?" he asked.

"I'm not trying to make you feel like you're not strong enough for me. Don't put absent thoughts into my head or words into my mouth." I faced him. "I still feel the same way about you, but I want to know if you can really handle me being the person I am now." I locked eyes with him. "The Stephanie you knew is gone until further notice."

He fixed me with his hard gaze, but I saw him swallow and I peeked into his mind a little to take a listen. 'God, she doesn't trust my love enough to believe that it doesn't matter to me.' Then he spoke, "You don't trust me."

"Not true, Carlos," I said. "I just want to make sure that you trust yourself. You're going to learn things about the new me that you may not like very much. Just as I've learned things about you that I didn't like very much."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "What have you learned about me?"

"Jade," I told him. He looked ill for a moment. I'd met Jade when I got back and she told me about Carlos, as well. I was trying to get a handle on how she fit into this mess, but she was very guarded. I'd have to work with her more. And she knew right away that I was the woman Ranger loved. And before she guarded her thoughts, I saw how much she loved him and I saw the flash of memory of what he'd done to her that day.

I couldn't be upset with him because I'd had a similar affair with Aric for two months while I was training. True, it was required, but I'd enjoyed some of it; a lot of it, actually. It was necessary and Carlos had known it would happen; and it was one more thing he hadn't told me. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm not mad. I was hurt for about thirty seconds, but then I realized that you were only doing what I'd had to do. I think I was more upset that you didn't warn me more about what this training would do to me."

Regret. That was what his eyes were filled with. "Babe, I'm sorry. I was afraid that if you knew everything, you'd be too afraid to continue, and that wasn't an option."

"I know, but just so you know, you have to let go of the things I've had to do with my body if we're going to make this work," I said quietly.

"Those were AI's," he said.

I sent him a cold smile. "Do you really believe that? Were they just AIs with you?"

He didn't meet my gaze.

"No, Carlos, they weren't just AIs. Because my abilities are unique, I had to try out my techniques on a living, breathing specimen." I hadn't wanted to hurt him, but I wasn't going to lie. For a while, I'd wanted to hide it and not tell him. But then I knew I'd never trust him again if I thought that he couldn't trust me. "I had to test if a real human being would be able to withstand my abilities."

Anger. Rage. Sadness. Acceptance. His emotions flashed through him so quickly. Then he said, "I could be really upset, but it wouldn't be fair and it wouldn't get either of us anywhere."

I nodded. "True. I didn't like it, but I understood about Jade. And you're going to have to be with her again. I saw into her mind. You're the only one who has any power over her."

He stared at me. "What? Did you just tell me to go and fuck her?"

"She's in love with you, Ranger."

"Ranger?"

"Right now, when I'm talking about you fucking some other woman, you're Ranger. Do you want me to attribute Carlos to those actions?" I asked on a violent whisper.

He shook his head. "No."

"Carlos, I hope, is still mine. But I can't claim Ranger," I said in a matter of fact tone.

"Are you going to try to break my arm again if I try to hold you?" he asked.

"No."

He walked over to me and tucked me into his arms, wrapping them tight around me. I looked up at him.

"Would it be okay if I kissed you?" he asked.

Ranger never asked. He took. This was Carlos and Carlos needed to know I still wanted him. "Is that all you want to do?"

He smiled and lifted me into his arms, and then carried me off to his bedroom. He set me onto my feet and slid his hands up to cup my jaw on either side, sliding them back so his fingers wrapped around the base of my head. "I will only make love to my Babe, though. Stephanie isn't allowed in my bedroom or my bed."

I looked into his eyes and conjured up all of my emotions regarding him, letting my love shine through for the first time in months. "Fine. We'll check Stephanie _and_ Ranger at the door."

He nodded. "Okay, Babe." Then he leaned in to kiss me and my world exploded. My carefully controlled emotions and abilities split apart inside me and I sank to the floor, trembling and crying. Unable to control anything.

"Babe!" He bent to scoop me up, but I held up a hand.

"Carlos. I'm not sure how to do this," I gulped, feeling my mind go haywire. "I don't know how to let go of my control long enough to be vulnerable with you and also keep my abilities in check. I don't know how to act human. They didn't show me how to release my control…" I was afraid. What if I could never be my old self again?

He bent to help me again and I stopped him. "Don't. If you touch me, I don't know what will happen to you. My mind isn't where it needs to be right now. I can't hurt you. Give me some time."

When he moved to grab me a third time, I popped out of his apartment and returned to headquarters. I pulled out Stephanie again and slapped her on, effectively burying Babe. My control was back and everything was fine. I pulled out my iPhone and dialed Javi.

"Yo," he said.

"You son of a bitch," I seethed.

"Hello to you, too, _dulce_." There was a smile in his voice.

"I have a problem and you're going to help me fix it."

He was silent for a minute. "Where are you?"

"HQ, but I can meet you anywhere."

"Okay, meet me at the training center," he said.

"Be there."

I hung up and focused in on the training center. A few moments later I was standing in the center of the domed room I knew so well and Javi was waiting.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"I have to undo some things and redo some others," I said walking toward him. "And you're the only person who can help me."

"Why?"

I glared at him. "Because, I love Carlos. But if I let go and allow him to see inside me, I lose control of my abilities. I'm afraid I will harm him. I need to learn how to have balance. You both never taught me that. Right now, I'm an all or nothing girl. So, my only choice is all control and no Carlos. That doesn't work for me. Fix it."

Javi ran a hand over his face. "This is a real problem, _dulce_. We haven't had anyone with your abilities to train before. But there is one person who can help you, maybe."

"Who?"

"Kelvina. He has similar abilities."

"Ranger doesn't trust him," I said it, but I didn't know where it came from. I thought back to my conversation to him. When I'd mentioned Jade, Ranger's mind had gone all over the page. She'd tried to kill him. Then she said something to him, something about a person called Breog. Carlos thought about Breog, but knew she wasn't telling the truth. He'd felt it was more Kelvina's style.

"What? That's not possible. He knows Kelvina is one of my best friends," Javi said quietly.

"I didn't read him wrong, Javi. I saw it in his memory. Something Jade told him." I trusted Javi with my life and I trusted him with this knowledge. The reason was simple. I saw him and I hugging sometime in the future, maybe years down the road, and I saw him as a faithful friend. So I knew that he would never betray me.

He walked close to me and gripped my forearm. "What did she say?"

I felt uncomfortable and morally wrong at this point. "I don't know if it is fair to talk to you about his memories. Maybe we should talk to him together?"

"But you were just with him, right?" he asked. "And you left him because something happened? That's why you're here."

"We were going to…" I broke off. How would I put this?"

"Okay, I get the picture. So you opened up to him so you could be together, fully, and then all hell broke loose?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes."

"Well, we might be able to fix that, but you won't be able to leave here for a couple of weeks while we touch up your training," he said giving me a pointed look.

"It's fine. I'll do it. Just let me call him. I didn't explain to him, I just left," I said quietly.

"Go back to him and tell him, then come here. I'll be waiting," Javi said and retreated to the living quarters that were accessed through the gym.

I sighed and focused on Ranger and popped to him, finding myself in the passenger seat of his Bugatti. He pulled off the side of the road and turned to face me. And he was Ranger. No trace of Carlos. Okay, fine. I needed to be Stephanie right now anyway.

"I can't let go and be Babe for you right now."

He nodded slightly. "I gathered that."

"Javi's going to help me. I'll be gone a few more weeks. They don't really know some of the intricate parts on how to train me. I guess I'm a work in progress. He thinks that maybe Kelvina could help me with some of this stuff since we have similar abilities." I brought up Kelvina again so I could peek into his mind a little deeper. And it was true, Kelvina was precognitive, but as far as we knew, he couldn't do what I could do.

"Javi can help you. You don't need to bother Kelvina for training. He's a busy man, Babe." He stopped and looked at me. "You'll_always_ be my Babe, you know."

I nodded. "I know, but I can't _be_ her until I know how to keep her from killing you," I was quiet and I was sad.

"Just what are your abilities?" he asked in wonderment.

"I can't tell you here, but someday soon I'll tell you," I said. I saw him harden. "It's best to keep it secret and who knows who can hear this conversation. Please trust me, Ranger."

He nodded. He was pissed at Kelvina. I saw that he had some intelligence on him that wasn't good. Hello, what's this? He was a Russian spy several years ago. Betrayal washed through him. Betrayal for Javi. _Oh, he doesn't want me anywhere near Kelvina._ Hmm, and he wants to brush up on his mind reading skills.

"Go see Javi about the mind reading," I said. "I'm sure that he'll be able to help you. You're both so much alike. It would be scary if it didn't help me feel close to you a bit while I was gone away so long."

He nodded. "I've been thinking about it."

"I know. Stop thinking. Do."

"Babe."

* * *

_A/N: Okay, I can already imagine the comments here, but please don't hate me for making sex __**seem **__so tawdry with them. They are just in unique positions and they understand each other and why it is the way it is._


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

_**Ranger**_

I sat alone in my car after my Babe had popped out again. I had been so happy to see her back, but she wasn't herself. She was right, she was Stephanie. I couldn't see _Babe_ in there anywhere. I had a fleeting moment when she'd been in my arms when she'd felt like the woman who left a year ago.

The year had been hard. I thought of her every day, worried over her, wondered about her. I dreamed about her and ached for her. When she showed up at the hotel I thought my heart had finally started beating again. But her eyes, the dead calm in her face, she wasn't my sweet insecure Babe. Not that I wanted her to stay insecure, but I wanted her to need me a little more. Now she was more like me; a trained killer. And, yet, she was the woman I still loved.

I sighed. Time to get the head thing figured out. If I had to sit through one more day of trying to read her emotions via her impassable face, I'd go insane. I wasn't used to trying to gauge what was going on with her. Guessing wasn't my thing, either. I'd always been able to _read _her, but it wasn't an option anymore.

I should have known, if she went into training with _my_ uncle, she would come back hard and determined. The irony struck me that I was now forced to go through my days trying to figure her out like she'd had to do with me, and now I was the one at a disadvantage.

Watching her fight was like watching a lion. She attacked and went for weaknesses, closing off the proverbial jugular. Wulf was shocked, too. It hadn't fazed her when he'd grabbed her ankle to burn her. She just kept swinging those beautiful long legs and curving her body around to attack. I suspected that it was no accident that he'd caught her, either. She was giving him a reason to believe she was weak. This is how I know that whatever she was hiding was big. Big, big.

Whatever it was that she could do, Wulf wanted her for it. Or rather, the person Wulf had prostituted himself to wanted her for it. I knew there was another person. Wulf didn't do mass killings. Wulf's killings were always collateral damage. He killed when he had to. Whoever he was working for was killing for a higher purpose. I decided to check out the skillsets of those he'd killed already. And I really needed to get a handle on why Wulf could stop my abilities from working.

I took a glance through my mental schedule realizing that first on my list was Jade. I had to convince her, Stephanie needed me to do it. There was something there. Stephanie knew something and she'd gotten into my head. I didn't know how, but I was going to have to watch my thought processes around her in the future. I didn't know what she was capable of now.

"Fuck!" I swore, thunking my steering wheel. There was no way I could proceed without getting my 'special' training. I needed to do the mind reading thing and it was time for me to get over my badass attitude and do it. I also needed to be able to get around quicker, especially so that I could be there for Stephanie in case anything happened.

Most importantly, I had to talk to Batiste about how Wulf came to be able to stop my abilities. It was the most bothersome because it made me feel useless and that was a hard pill to swallow. I flipped open my phone and dialed Javi.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Yeah. I need some training. Can you squeeze me in?" I asked.

"Ah…"

"You're busy?"

"I have a student with me for a few weeks. Call Batiste, he's better than me," he hesitated a moment and then said, "I think maybe it will be better not coming from family, anyway. You'll relax more if you're not comparing yourself to me. I think that was part of your problem before," he said and disconnected.

I knew that meant Stephanie was there. She had been desperate to get away from me. Something about us touching had terrified her, but I didn't know what. She wouldn't let me touch her again, but there was fear in her eyes. I had become her weakness, just as she was mine.

I called Batiste and he agreed to meet with me to start the training immediately. I pulled into the Rangeman garage and rode up my apartment and then invoked assembly to get to headquarters. _At least I can pop somewhere._

"So, you're finally asking for help with this?" Batiste said with a smile.

I stared at him for a moment. If I was going to do this, I had to be open and I _hated_ opening myself up.

"You're right about needing to be open. You can't do this without opening yourself up. That's the trouble. You hate invasion of privacy and you've refused to do it. For some reason, you're willing to get past it this time," he said.

"I hate when people read my mind," I said wearily.

"I can help you have some control over that, as well." Batiste walked over to me. "I think the telepathy will be easier for you if you can learn to port around. Think of it as almost a precursor. Penetrating minds is difficult, so if you can already penetrate space, penetrating someone's thoughts is the next logical step. It's as if you are putting yourself into their mind and looking around in filing cabinets."

I nodded. It made sense and I understood why Javi wanted me to come learn from Batiste. He continued, "Porting around is the same as using assembly. You just visualize where you want to go. And if you can't visualize the place, you visualize the purpose. Either will get you where you need to go. Sometimes, if you just visualize the purpose, you'll end up somewhere you didn't mean to end up, but it could be a big clue and I suggest you not ignore the destination when you use this method."

"Makes sense," I said. I could see how a purpose could serve to bring me closer to my goal than a place, I lived and breathed by purpose, not places.

"For now, we're going to focus on places. It's easier." He stood in front of me. "Ready to try?"

I nodded and stood. "Where to?"

"Let's do something easy. Something that you know really well," he smiled.

"My apartment."

"Right." He grinned. "This will be interesting. Focus on an object in your home and see yourself standing next to it."

Hmm, I could do that. I pictured my couch and focused on myself standing near it. Then I saw myself standing with Stephanie in my arms. Then I realized I would need a cold shower soon if I didn't stop thinking about her. The next thing I knew, I was standing in the locker room showers at Rangeman right next to Lester under the spray.

I jumped back, shock shooting through me. He was washing his hair with his eyes closed, dancing around and singing a hip hop song about some 'baby girl' I didn't recognize. His eyes opened and he saw me standing there and he screamed like a little girl and dropped the soap bottle he'd just picked up. "Shit, Ranger! What the hell are you doing in here, man?"

I couldn't contain myself. I bent at the waist and laughed my ass off; big, loud belly laughs that echoed throughout the shower. "Santos! Don't drop the soap, man!" I yelled at him in an explosive fit of laughter. There were very few people I could act like myself around. Santos and Tank were two out of three. The thought sobered me. I had a fourth person I wanted to add to the ranks if I ever got the chance to get her there.

"You're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?" he asked, still clutching his chest.

"Oh, I'm going to tell _everyone_," I said with a huge shit-eating grin on my face.

"Right after you tell them that you were standing under the hot spray with me in the shower?" Lester asked with a vicious smile.

I looked at him. "Fine, it never happened. But that was so fucking funny, man," I said.

"Shut up. Where did you even come from anyway? I didn't hear you walk in," he said with a grimace rinsing the soap from his eyes and hair.

"If I don't want you to hear me coming, you won't hear me coming," I said and then I walked out. I decided to check in with Tank and received shocked glances from my men when I stepped out of the elevator on the fifth floor.

"Where did you come from?" Ram asked me, sliding out into the aisle in his chair. "Why are you all wet?"

"Don't worry where I came from and it's none of your business. Just worry that you're ready for me the next time I pop in suddenly," I said, grinning inwardly at the double meaning. "Tuck that shirt in."

I heard him stand when I left and I went to Tank's office. "Yo."

He looked up. "How the hell did you get here and what happened to you?" I gave him a pointed look and he grinned. "Learning a new trick? Shit, did you pop into Santos's shower?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't know that Santos was in the shower," I said.

"Long story," Tank explained. "Who's training you?"

"Batiste."

"Hunh. Oughtta be fun," he said.

"Yeah. I've gotta go. I'm betting Batiste is up in my apartment waiting for me." Tank nodded and I walked to the elevator.

Batiste was laughing when I walked in. "That was priceless."

"What? Me popping into Lester's shower or the scream?" I half smirked.

"Both. Okay, next time try not to think about cold showers so much. And try not to think about Stephanie. You have to let her go for a while, Carlos."

"Why do they want her?" I asked

"Let's focus on your training. You'll know everything soon enough because it's important. I've been waiting for you to ask, but I'm not telling you until we're through," Batiste said. "Try another destination."

"I'll go to her apartment," I said.

"She was gone a year. How does she still have the apartment?" Batiste said and read the answer in my thoughts. "Ah, she won't be happy with you for doing that."

"I know, but I didn't want her to have nowhere to go when she returned," I said.

He smiled and shook his head slowly. "I never thought I would see the day when you would fall so hard for a woman you would shape your life around her, Carlos."

I would have liked to deny it, but I knew he could see right through me. "Me either. I feel like our positions are reversed. She was trying to get me and I pushed her away. Now all I want is her and she's unapproachable."

"It will get better. She still loves you. She is just trying to figure herself out," Batiste said quietly. "Okay, port to her apartment."

I closed my eyes and thought about her apartment and immediately thought about her bed. When I opened my eyes, I was standing in the middle of her bed. Batiste was on the floor grinning at me. "That was better. Let's get you to the point where you can do this with your eyes opened."

We worked for a few hours. He gave me random destinations and I went. My accuracy was getting better and I had a few crazy mishaps, but luckily I'm a controlled person. I already knew how to channel abilities, so adding a new one was just a matter of receiving some pointers from Batiste. He was patient and a good instructor.

"I need to talk to you about Wulf," I said when we popped back into my apartment and sat down on my couch.

"What about him?"

"He can block my abilities. When I'm around him, I can't touch time. I'm completely inept," I said. I hate admitting my weaknesses.

"It's not a weakness, Carlos." He was silent for a few moments and I decided that telepathy couldn't come fast enough. "And you wouldn't be able to read them even if you knew how. I'm good at blocking my thoughts."

"There's something you're not telling me."

"You don't need telepathy. You have fairly accurate instincts," Batiste said with a smile.

"What do you know about Wulf?" I asked.

"Well, there is supposedly a way to do this, but it's taboo," he began. "You can apparently get your mind to a place where you don't _allow_ yourself to be manipulated, but it comes at a great cost. I've heard that you can lose your own abilities through using this technique. It's as if you give up all of your abilities for this one. They can't exist together. If your abilities are magic, then this technique is anti-magic. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly, sir." I hesitated and he gave me a look that said to keep talking. "Is there any way to get past it?"

"You have to will your mind to be stronger than his. If your mind is stronger than his, you can overcome him. Of course, it put him at a huge advantage over you not knowing what he was doing," he explained.

I thought for a moment. "Wulf doesn't seem like the type to want to give up his powers for the ability to ward off magic"

Batiste stared at me for a moment. "That's right, Carlos. It means that he doesn't have a choice. And it means that he's more dangerous than ever."

"Does Diesel know?"

"He's no longer Diesel's concern."

"You are sending her after him, aren't you? You gave her Diesel's case." Anger flashed through me swiftly.

"She's capable of stopping him permanently, Carlos. And if we find out who is behind it, she'll stop him, too." He stood up and looked at me. "She's that good."

_Who was this woman?_ I wondered.

He motioned to the door. "Why don't you have Tank come up? He can help with the telepathy. He can be your subject because you won't be able to practice on me."

I snorted. I knew he was damn good and very controlled. "Can anyone?"

He slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked back onto his heels. "She can."

***

"Tank. We'll start easy," Batiste said. He handed Tank a piece of paper. "Think this."

Tank nodded and stared at me.

"That's easy," I said. "He's thinking that he wants a donut."

"That was fast," Batiste said.

"I didn't have to read his mind on that one. He's drooling." I laughed.

Batiste studied me for a moment. "I think that you can read minds, but you doubt yourself."

"I don't doubt myself, I can't read minds," I said.

"I disagree." He looked at Tank. "Okay, just focus on him and think about listening to his head."

I gritted my teeth. "This isn't going to work. I know him too well."

"Just try it."

"Fine." I stared at Tank and thought about my mind going into his. I thought about listening to the voice in his head and then I heard, 'I miss this shit. Maybe I should sign another contract." I was a bit startled, but I kept listening. 'I hope that Bombshell is okay. I miss her.' And finally I heard, "You're a smart man and I trust you with my life, Carlos, but you're a dumb fuck for messing things up with Stephanie."

I glared at him and he smiled. "I guess you were really reading my mind," he said.

I decided to do a test. _You bet your ass. You're on monitor duty for the next month._

"Hey!" He said standing. "If I can't be honest with a friend, who can I be honest with?"

"Lay off me today. It's been a long day and I'm tired. I'm not in the mood to discuss my fuck ups. Maybe tomorrow." I looked at Batiste. "Thanks. I have to go see Jade tomorrow. Stephanie suggested it."

He raised an eyebrow. "This should be interesting."

"Tell me about it," I said. "Stephanie told me that she's in love with me."

Tank looked flabbergasted. "Stephanie is in love with you?"

I looked at him calmly. "Stephanie told me that Jade is in love with me."

"Oh you stupid fuck," Tank said quietly.

"Do we need to go down to the gym?" I asked.

"No."

Batiste studied me. "Yes, Jade has been in love with you for a long time. You never realized it."

It wasn't a question. I knew he was reading me again. "Next lesson is blocking the invasion smartass," I said to him.

He grinned and disappeared. Tank left and went back to work. I pondered my life for a moment, but there wasn't much to think about. There was no life without Stephanie. I headed to my office, instead, and got to work on my computer. At least I was good at being productive when I was miserable.


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_Warning for smut._

* * *

_**Ranger**_

I walked down the stark hallway in the basement of headquarters with dread building over the meeting ahead. I had to play nice with a friend turned enemy; an enemy that was in love with me. I hated dealing with enemies who used to do friends. The betrayal eats at me, not to mention the fact that they know things about me I wouldn't want enemies to know. It's the reason I don't let too many people get close to me. For some reason, though, I felt that Jade's situation was unique. I didn't think she was my enemy, but I also didn't have an answer for what she was now.

I stepped in front of her glass cage and stared at her. She looked the same as when I last saw her, except for the clothing. Her auburn hair was messy, as if she'd spent time pulling on her hair in anger or frustration. She turned her head and saw me, her jade green eyes widening fractionally. I had to admire her when she stood and walked over, planting herself firmly in front of me on her side of the glass.

I stared at her. We couldn't talk to or hear each other, yet, so we just stared. I knew her story. She didn't know mine. Maybe I should have picked up on the clue a while back when she started confiding in me.

Her real name was Melissa Jane Angor. Jade was her nickname because of her eyes. They looked like perfect little polished jade stones. She'd discovered her unmentionable abilities at the age of twelve. She was bullied, like I was, because she was small and weak. She wore glasses and girls would grab her neck and choke her against the wall in the bathroom trying to make her pass out. She'd discovered that, when she heard them coming, she could shrink herself enough to hide in a corner until they were gone.

She began to choke herself on purpose as she learned to do various things. It became an obsession with her; asking to be choked when she was practicing telepathy, or to see how far she could go and still be able to shrink herself or port to another place. She would choke herself so she would pass out and not have to take a history test in school.

The first time she'd been choked during sex, it had been me. She'd begged me. I didn't want to. When she started punching me in the face as I was pumping into her, something in me snapped. I pulled out and grabbed her around the neck and told her coldly not to hit me again. Then she started moaning and stroking herself. Fuck. I'd gotten so turned on, I'd started licking her. That was the orgasm that had sent her over the edge the first time. And then she'd turned her back on me.

I found out later that I'd nearly crushed her hyoid bone and it'd taken her a significant amount of time to recover from it. It had been a near strangulation and she'd refused the healers because she wanted to let it heal naturally. The knowledge of it nearly killed me. She'd never told me, I'd gotten a lecture from Javi. From that day, I was more mindful of where I grabbed a person's throat unless I really did want to strangle them.

Looking at Jade today, there was nothing weak about her, even if she was small. But there was something broken and, despite the fact that she'd almost killed me, I felt bad that I was the cause. I put my flat palm against the glass and she did the same on her side, putting her small hand inside the outline of mine. She stared into my eyes and then dropped her head, crying fitfully.

It was what I needed to see. If I was going to do this, I needed something to make me feel macho and protective because there were parts of me that still wanted to kill her. I focused on the fact that she'd been a friend and she was my link to helping my Babe. That was my main objective.

I looked at the guard. "Let me in and give us privacy."

He nodded, let me in, set the lock in place, and then left. Jade walked over to her bunk and flopped onto it. I followed her and laid down next to her, allowing my hand to caress her eyebrow gently. It was an action that I knew she found soothing. "Why?" I asked.

"Because you came to my home and fucked me so you could help the woman you love," she said, quietly, not meeting my gaze.

"Jade, you and I never talked about relationships. Ever."

"I know. I'll call that one my fault," she said, placing a hand over mine and to stroke her fingertips over the back. "I hadn't made up my mind to join him until that day."

"You hadn't?"

"No. I joined because you were able to walk away and not give me a second glance. And I knew that he could make you love me." I looked at her. Had she just said "make" me love her?

"I don't understand," I said.

"Mind control. Call it what you want. Brainwashing, coercive persuasion, thought reform. They're all the same. He was going to do that for me, turn your mind to me. When you were going to walk away from me to her after what we'd just shared, I knew I would join him. I knew that was my answer." She was speaking quietly. Her voice was small, ashamed. She'd given up her life for me. Treason was a death sentence in our world. We knew too much.

"I – I'm sorry. I never meant for you to think that there was more than that," I said. "The truth is, I didn't want a relationship with anyone back then." _Until Stephanie._

Her head snapped up. "What's so special about her?"

"Jade, she's the woman for me. You can't plan who your soul mate is," I said, unsure of what to say to her. "Didn't you ever have someone, besides me, that you felt you wanted to be with forever? Anyone?"

"Yeah. He was killed in a car accident when we were seventeen." Fresh tears dripped down her cheeks. "Back then, seatbelts were hardly installed in cars. If you got into an accident, you just prayed it wasn't too bad." She wiped her hands down her cheeks. "I never felt anything for anyone else since then until you."

"We were training. It wasn't real!" I was exasperated by this point.

"It was real to ME!" she yelled.

I felt bad, but I couldn't make myself have any feeling for her other than pity and remorse for what would happen to her. "I'm sorry, Jade."

She turned to me and stroked my cheek. This was the opportunity I needed. My 'mission' mentality kicked in. I turned my face to kiss her palm and then I looked up at her. "Once more for old times' sake?"

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. She nodded. "Please."

I brought her forward and kissed her, testing. When she kissed me back, I matched my kisses to her need. I'd been trained to allow my body to follow the target's need in these situations. When I was with Stephanie, I followed my heart. Right here, right now, I had to follow her lead because I needed her to feel that I was right there with her.

With gentle motions, I removed her clothing and kissed her tenderly. With each kiss, I felt her resolve melting away. She would be everything I needed her to be before the night was through. I lingered on her breasts, teasing and biting her nipples as my fingers gently stroked and petted her moist center.

Dammit, she was crying and it was killing me. I had to get her past her tears or this wouldn't work.

Gripping her hair firmly, I wrenched her head backwards and assaulted her neck with my teeth and lips. Her cries became moans and I saw the desire flash in her eyes. "There she is," I said to her and her eyes kicked up another notch.

I pulled back and slapped on the condom I'd brought, then gripped her hips and slammed into her, rocking against her. I picked up my pace until her moans became loud cries. When I felt the first twitch of her muscles, I stopped and held perfectly still, pinning her hips beneath my hands so that she couldn't move against me.

"C!" she gasped. "Don't stop, please."

"Tell me who it is," I said contracting my muscles, making my cock spasm inside her. She gasped and moaned.

"I can't. I can't tell you. Please, let me come," she moaned trying to buck her hips against me.

"Stop or I'll leave," I said.

Anger flashed in her eyes. "You bastard. You tricked me. Get the hell ou–"

I pulled out and slammed into her one more time making her forget her anger. I moved within her a little while until I heard her start to moan and I felt her start to twitch again.

"Tell me!" I said stopping my motion. Jade groaned and begged. "Tell me now or I'll leave."

She sighed and ground her hips against mine. "I can't."

I pulled out and slammed into her again. "I need you to tell me. People are dying, Jade. Please," I began to move within her again, gripping her tightly, "tell me, Jade." I felt her breathing become raspy and the beginnings of a tremor pulse around my cock and I stilled.

She ground out a fierce moan and whimpered. "Let me come. I'll tell you."

Reading her mind, I pulled out and held myself poised above her entrance. "You're lying, Jade. Tell me now or I walk away."

"Shit!" She tried to lift her hips to me. I had worked her into a bad state and I was proud of my accomplishment. I broke Jade's cool façade. She was reduced to a trembling, mumbling mess and she was waiting for a very long overdue climax.

"Just one name, Jade. Tell me who it is. One word, just one." I began caressing her opening with the head of my cock and she gasped, trying to lift her hips to take me inside, but I held her fast.

I read it in her mind before she shouted it out. "Kelvina!" I plunged into her hard, fucking her fast and squeezing her airway the way she loved.

Just before her climax came, I asked, "Why?"

"Because she can do it!" she yelled and tumbled into the abyss.

Her climax was violent and she screamed out as her release shook her body. I slowed my strokes and brought her down until she was a weeping, shaking mass beneath me.

"Thanks, Jade." I kissed her cheek and pulled out, depositing the condom I was wearing in the trash bin, and pulling on my clothing.

She sat up and looked at me, anger on her face. "You're not even going to finish?"

"This wasn't about my pleasure," I said. "I don't need or want to finish. I came here to give you what you needed, what you wanted from me. I gave you that and you gave me what I asked for." I went to the door and pressed the call button for the guard. He appeared after about thirty seconds and opened the door. I stepped through and it closed behind me and I looked back at her.

I felt regret that I'd had to hurt her. She'd been a good friend over the years, but I couldn't forgive her for what she'd done, for what she'd planned. "Take care, Jade."

She was sobbing uncontrollably. I turned and walked away and pulled my phone out of my pocket. Javi answered on the first ring. "A little busy here," he said. He sounded out of breath and spent. Jealousy surged through my veins.

"Heavy training, Tío?" I asked. (uncle)

"Si," he answered, sounding amused. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you. Both of you," I said. "It's important."

"Can you get here?" he asked.

I closed my phone and looked at his naked and sweaty form. "Yes."

Stephanie stared at me, her eyes shuttered against her emotions, but her mind was racing. I could hear it.

"Anything you care to tell me, Babe?" I looked at them both with my eyebrows raised.

*******************

_A/N: I know, short chapter. But there's so much happening going forward and this was a good breaking place. I can't resist giving a little teaser. Don't hate me!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

_**Stephanie**_

I looked at Ranger, shocked that he was here, but I did what I always do these days and shut down my emotions. _You can do this, Stephanie._ "No explanation necessary," I said.

His eyebrows were still up, he was looking blankly from Javi to me and back again. "I'd like to know why my uncle is naked and sweaty in front of you."

"Overprotective, Ranger?" I asked.

"Carlos, I'm training her," Javi said, turning to face Ranger. "Get out of here. We'll meet you in the center room in ten minutes. We're not done here."

The look on Ranger's face as he walked out was _not_ good. I stared Javi in the face. "Are you trying to get him to dump me forever?"

"Finish the exercise, then we'll talk," he said. Javi was a slave master. When I'd been here for my training time, he pushed me until I hated him. He worked me nearly to death. He made me sweat until I was dehydrated. He'd hurt me, molested me, beat me and had nearly killed me a couple of times. So naturally, I trusted him completely. I knew he could help me with my Ranger problem.

I walked up to him and stared into his eyes. He put his hands on my waist and pressed me close. "Babe," he said in a voice identical to his nephew's. "Look at me." I stared into his eyes. "Really look at me. Show me who you are."

I stared into his eyes and let down my guard. I focused on him being Ranger, not Javi. I showed him all the love I felt for Ranger. I let him inside. He was staring at me and he put his hands on my bare arms. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips. I closed my eyes and then felt my emotions going haywire.

Suddenly, it was as if heaven and hell had collided. Javi went flying across the room and slammed into the wall with a loud 'Oof" and slid down until he was sitting.

"This isn't working!" I said and began to pace. "You're not even him and look at how I react to you! You don't push my buttons like he does. You can stand here in front of me naked, looking like him, talking like him, acting like him … and something bad happens. It's only a little bit of what could happen." I sighed and sat down in the chair. "He is another story. He – he has my soul. I don't know what to do!"

Javi stared at me and then quietly got dressed. "I have an idea."

"What?" I looked at him and saw he was smiling and holding out his hand.

"Why don't we go and talk to Carlos. He needs to be involved or, at the very least, informed," he said.

I put my hand in his and went out of the room with him. Ranger's scowl darkened when he saw us coming out of the room hand in hand. Javi winked at me and took me over to where Ranger was standing in a wide-legged stance, arms across his chest. "You will notice, _sobrino_, that I was the only one naked in that room."

Ranger gave a curt nod, not looking at me. I looked inside him just then and saw images of him and Jade together in her holding cell. She was crying and begging. He'd done what I asked. I searched his mind, but then I sensed him blocking my thoughts. He had started singing a weird little song in his head. He _was_ blocking me. If I'd wanted to, I could have overpowered it, but I was trying to control that right now.

I shoved Javi aside and put my finger to Ranger's chest. "Don't put a block up in front of me. And don't come in here and get pissed at me for standing in a room with your naked uncle when you just came from Jade's cell smelling like sex with her!" I huffed. "I know what you did and I _asked_ you to do it, but don't get high and mighty with me. Change your attitude _right now_."

He relaxed and looked at me. Javi came over and stood beside us. "First of all, this is good. Open communication is necessary." He looked at me. "You have to be open and honest or you won't trust. If you don't trust, it's dangerous."

I nodded.

Ranger looked at me, his gaze was still shielded and I knew it was because I had hurt him. I also knew it was because I was still shielding myself from him. "I understand."

"Okay, then the two of you go into that room and talk." He pointed to the 'mind' room. "I'll set the shield on the room so you can't use your powers. You will only be able to be open and honest with each other. No mind reading, no powers." Ranger and I both nodded. "Come back out when you're ready and I'll have everything set up for you."

"Okay," I said absentmindedly. I didn't know how I felt about being able to be vulnerable again after so long. Ranger made a move to grab my hand and I pulled back, shaking my head. "Not yet."

Confusion flickered in his glance, but he respected my wishes. When we got to the door, I turned to Javi. "Are you _sure_ this is strong enough?" I asked.

"Well," he hesitated slightly and rubbed the back of his neck, "there's no _guarantee_. I'll get Oliver here just in case. If you need anything, hit the emergency button on the wall."

I nodded. If I killed Ranger, I would never forgive myself and I wasn't sure I would live through it.

Once the door was shut, he turned to start speaking, but I held up my hand and watched the panel on the wall. When the light turned green, I turned to him as myself. I let him see the torment in my eyes, the pain in my heart, and the worry in my mind.

"Jesus, Babe. What's going on?" he asked coming over to me and drawing me into a loving embrace. I pressed myself close, snuggling my face into his neck and breathing in the scent of him. It'd been a whole year. I'd missed him, I'd thought of him, I'd dreamed of him … and then I'd come home and I couldn't touch him. It had been a disaster.

"You know how you said you think I have super Spidey sense? How I can see into the future a little?" He nodded. "Well, it goes further than that. I'm Psychokinetic, apparently. I can make things happen by thinking them. I can hurt people with tragic results. On a _normal_," I laughed at the word, "person, this would be dangerous, but controllable. But I'm not normal. My mind is very strong and I slip into roles too easily."

Heaving a heavy sigh, I tightened my grip around his waist. "I guess I'd always had an overactive imagination or something, because if I look at someone and I imagine doing something to them or something happening to them, it happens. Add that my ability to look into the future and play it for myself and I'm…" I shuddered and squeezed tight.

"Deadly," he said smiling.

I blinked.

"Babe, you've always been deadly to me. What's a little more danger?" He hugged me close and kissed my cheek.

I looked into his eyes and blew out a breath. "Carlos, this is serious. I was fighting Aric a few months ago and I saw what move he was going to make, so I beat him to his own punch. Right when I did my spin kick, I had the thought 'kill shot' in my head. It nearly sucked the life out of him before my feet hit him. He fell back onto the mat in a lifeless heap and I thought he was dead." My body started trembling at the memory. "We determined he was breathing and his vitals were normal, but he wouldn't wake up. Finally, they had to bring in Jeb." I was shaking, crying, and clinging to him. He just held me, kissing my hair and rubbing circles on my back.

"I've never met Jeb," he said. I smiled and thought of how much Ranger and the master Healer would get along.

"You would like him," I said kissing his cheek. "Anyway, he said that Aric was in some sort of mind trap. It was as if I'd taken it and put it somewhere out of his body. It took them over a week to get him to wake up and I had to help because they needed me to undo what I did. It was a really stressful process." I shuddered again, remembering how I'd had to talk to him and call him back.

Ranger caressed my jaw lightly with his fingertips. "You just need to know where your strength lies and learn to control it better."

"It's not that simple. My abilities are connected to my emotions. Once I discovered them, they started doing their own thing. When I'm angry or scared, I have the most control. We worked hard on it. But I haven't had any practice on how to control love or elation. They're more dangerous than anger because they're stronger emotions for me." I broke from his embrace and began pacing. "When you were holding me at the apartment, I looked at you and we were being open and showing our feelings. I saw fifteen minutes into the future, Carlos. I saw you on the floor and there was blood everywhere. I had destroyed you." I paused for a moment to let it sink in.

He stared at me. "And you're afraid that loving me would kill me?" he asked.

"No." I sighed and looked him directly in the eye. "At this point, I know it would."

He shook his head and stared at the floor for a minute. "Un-fucking-believable," he said. "These past few years, I was afraid to love you because I was afraid that loving you would be your death sentence. Now you're telling me the same thing."

And then he became agitated. "It's as if our roles have been reversed. When danger comes, you tell me to sit in the car while you fight the bad guy. You're holding back your emotions from me. And now you're afraid that being too close will kill me." He laughed, but there was no amusement. It wasn't funny. "How did you ever put up with me?"

Tears sprang to my eyes. "Because I loved you enough to let you figure it out," I whispered.

He was over to me in a minute. "We will figure it out. I do love you enough to let you do that, but we have right now. Let me hold you, Babe. We're meant for each other. There has to be a way to overcome it."

"We can't spend the rest of our lives locked up in a training room," I sniffed.

He tipped my chin up and stared into my eyes. "You still need me." I couldn't tell if it was a plea, a question, or a realization.

"Always," I said.

"Am I worth fighting for?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then, you need to fight and get over your fear of hurting me. I trust you," he said, kissing and tracing my lips with his tongue. "I love you." He nibbled on the corners of my mouth. "I need you." His lips trailed soft kisses along my jaw. "I want you." His tongue traced the shell of my ear. "I adore you," he whispered as his teeth gently nipped my earlobe. I felt myself get wetter at every kiss, at every touch, at every word he said to me. "I believe in you." He gently cupped my cheek in his hand and brought his lips to mine in a sweet, loving kiss. His tongue slid over mine gently, caressing it, tasting me. His arms came around me, pulling me tight against him.

I sighed into his mouth as he teased and tormented it with his own. Then I felt his teeth gently graze my neck as his hands gently massaged my shoulder blades. He moved his hands lower so they were spanning my waist, kneading and heating the skin there. His hands dipped lower and slipped into the back of my jeans splaying across the top of my toned cheeks.

"We're going to get through this. Javi has something up his sleeve and I think he can help us." He pulled his head back slightly. "But can you please help me understand what was going on in there? Why was he naked?"

I smiled. "He was pretending to be you for me. Trying to help me get past the ooey gooey feelings you bring up in me. They're really dangerous because everything in my head spirals out of control when you're near me."

"You were substituting him for me?" He looked shocked.

"NO! He was role-playing you for my benefit. But it never worked. I didn't get that much of a response to him, so I didn't have enough practice to help me with the real deal," I said. I saw him smirk at being called the 'real deal' and playfully punched his chest.

"Then use me. Why can't I help you train?" he asked.

I felt a chill hit my spine. "No. I can't let you do it. You don't know what I saw! You don't know what I did to Javi by just imagining he was you."

"If we have others around, we can do this." He grabbed my hands and looked into my eyes. "Babe, it's time to fight for us. Even if it means you have to fight yourself."

I looked into his eyes and saw his strength and love. "Okay."

"One other thing," he said before we broke apart.

"What?"

"Why aren't you angry with me about Jade?" he asked.

"Carlos, do we really need to go over all of the things that we already have to, and will eventually have to, forgive each other for?" I asked, placing a hand on his arm. "Do you want to ask me what I've had to do? Do we really want to go there?"

I could see the struggle in his eyes. "No, it wouldn't be productive."

I smiled. "It would be destructive. We both know there are things we will have to do. Can we just say 'I forgive you' now and agree not ask about it in the future?" I stepped closer and put my head on his shoulder. "Someday, we'll be free and we won't have to do all of these things that are required for us. But we signed contracts. Those contracts state that we will do whatever is necessary to protect, serve, and get our goals met."

He relaxed. "Okay. So, what's the solution?"

"Don't ask, don't tell. I don't want to know or hear about it. I'll work on my jealousy if you work on yours and we'll look forward to someday when we won't have to hide anything from each other," I said simply. "But a warning to you. That is the only thing I will tolerate you hiding from me. If you ever clam up on me…"

He gripped my upper arms and tugged me close to him. "I won't. I'm yours."

"And I'm yours."


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_Warning for smut._

****************

_**Ranger**_

"This is the last time!" Stephanie screamed as she stood over me. I felt as if my body was trying to combust from the inside. I couldn't move and breathing was difficult.

Oliver ran over from his corner and put his hands on me. I felt the cool rush of energy flow into me at his touch and the pain quickly slipped away. I stood up and walked over to her. "We're _not_ giving up, Babe. This is worth it."

She was upset and I needed to calm her down. I put my hands on her shoulders and she jerked her head up. "You need to stop touching me." She was trembling in fear and anger.

"No. We're doing this. We're getting past this right now. I'm not letting you hurt me anymore. I've decided that the only pain I'm getting from you going forward is good pain. As of right now, you're going to trust me and I'm going to trust you … and _you're_ going to trust you." I slid my arms around her and wrapped one around her waist and the other around her shoulders. "Now, kiss me like you mean it, Babe."

Javi piped in. "Maybe you're trying to fight yourself too much, Stephanie. Why not just go with the feelings? Maybe if you just let yourself feel what you're truly feeling, good things will happen. Fear can cause a lot of good things to turn very, very bad. Let go of the fear."

I watched as she considered his words. When she turned to me, her eyes were blue fire. "Okay. You're right. I'm not going to fear my feelings anymore. I love you and I'm going to show you." Her resolve was steely and this time, I knew it would be right.

She grabbed the front of my T-shirt with both hands and pulled me close, gripping tightly. When she placed her lips on mine, I could feel the sparks flying. I was warm from my head to my toes and then I was hot. Just like that, I wanted her. I lost myself in her kiss. She kissed and bit at my mouth, tasting and licking at my lips. Oh God, she _was_ my woman.

I pressed her close and started kissing streams of kisses down her neck. She opened her mouth and moaned softly and then she started trailing kisses down my neck and I felt a growl leave my lips. "Babe, you make me lose all of my control."

"Good, because you make me lose all of mine." She slipped her hands under my shirt and started exploring my chest. Her fingertips lightly caressed over my nipples and she stopped to tease and pinch each one.

Desire pulsed through me at the speed of light, but instead of letting myself go with it, I wanted to see where she would go. "Babe, just love me. Use all of you to love all of me."

In amazement, I could see it as it happened. She looked at me and everything good inside her came at me at once. I felt heat and light and pleasure. I stared into her eyes and, in that moment, we knew she would never hurt me again. She turned her head to look at Javi and Oliver. "Leave, please."

They both grinned and walked out. She walked over to the panel and pulled up the Point Pleasant scene from before and then slowly peeled off her clothes and stood naked and beautiful before me. I wasted no time taking off my clothing and walked over to step in front of her. She smiled at me. "Let's do this together."

I pulled her into my arms and slowed down the waves. "How did you like it best?" I asked.

"Slow and languid right now," she said. I grinned and adjusted the time until the waves were moving and rubbing against each other slowly, just as she and I would be doing. "I love you, Carlos." Her eyes were sensuous and full of love.

I took her hands in mine and pulled her close. "I love you, Babe." I lifted her in my arms and laid her on the bed and joined her, caressing her toned body with my fingertips. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations I was giving her.

I leaned down and kissed her shoulder. Then I trailed soft kisses across one collarbone, and then the other to her opposite shoulder and kissed it. I kissed down her arm, touching my tongue to the pulse points in her elbow and on her wrist and repeated the action on the other arm. I watched as her nipples beaded up into tight nubs. "You were so brave. I'm proud of you for getting past your fear. I'm going to love you with everything I've got inside me, Babe. I've missed you so much."

I looked into her eyes, eyes that had been in my dreams since I was a boy, eyes that captivated me at every turn, and I realized, somewhere along the line, I'd given up the bad things inside me and I'd started living for the good things inside of her. They were still there, but she'd been force to bury them.

"I'm so sorry that I took away your choice to be good and carefree. I'm sorry that I–"

"Shh," she said placing a finger over my lips. "I know why you did it. You either had to watch me live as a tormented shell or you had to save me. I'm glad you saved me. I've learned a lot about myself. I've found out that clumsy Stephanie can be a strong, powerful woman. And I've learned that my strength comes from your love _and_ support." She leaned up to kiss along my jaw. "I never could have become what I am without you."

She cupped my face in her hands and said, "Carlos, from the moment you walked into my life, in the doctor's office; yes," she said when she saw my surprised expression, "I knew that was you. I knew it when you walked into the café that you were the grown up version of the little boy that my girlish heart dreamed about."

She smiled and traced her hands over my chest. "My mom wanted me to sit by her, but the minute I saw you I knew you were trouble, so I had to sit by you. You spoke to me and, even though that mean boy was there testing you, you were confident of who you were. Carlos, I didn't think that anything could make me believe you could be insecure…"

She stared at me. "But you're so insecure about so many things. I see them. Your tough guy exterior isn't to ward off people or to make them think you're something you're not. You wear that for you so you remember you're not that wimpy little kid who can't defend himself physically." Her fingertips stroked down my chest, the side of my abdomen, over my hip, and then around under my ass. I got lost in her touch.

"It's time for you to step out and be who you are, all of you. Not just the tough guy, but the no-so-tough guy, as well." My breath caught as she slid her fingers around to my front to stroke down the tip of my cock. I'd been a year without her and her touch nearly sent me over the edge.

"Jesus, Babe! You've got me feeling like a fucking virgin! I'm not going to make it!" My teeth were clenched. Before I knew it, she was up on her knees and pressing me into the bed. She leaned forward and kissed my neck and, nipped at it, and then licked the bites before she kissed again. She did this for several minutes down one side of my neck and then down the other.

She smiled and stared at my cock and then leaned down and got within a hairbreadth of it. I could feel little puffs of air coming out as she breathed, breezing over my tip, making me hotter and harder, if possible. Then, suddenly, I felt as if it was being touched by a million hands. My blood coursed through my cock. I was so hard and I didn't think I could hold on. Then I realized what she was doing. I reached down to grab her to pull her up.

"Babe. Let me…"

She snapped her gaze to me and said, "Since you won't be a good boy and keep your hands to yourself, I'm going to have to restrain you." She had an evil glint in her eye, which would have been frightening, except I liked it.

"Oh" The sound was more of a groan than a word.

Grinning broadly, she looked at my hands and they snapped up above my head and were stuck there so I couldn't move them. I couldn't pull them down, she'd restrained me with her mind. "Christ, Babe!"

"Oh, just wait, Carlos. I'll have you beg," she said as she looked down at each leg, both of which were pinned to the bed spread wide apart. "You've never felt anything like this before, Carlos." Then she stared at my hips so that I couldn't move them.

A sound escaped my throat, but I wasn't sure what it was. More moan than groan, maybe? I drew in a shaky breath as her tongue darted out to lick my tip. Shock waves zipped out from the contact throughout my whole body. It was as if she were pure electricity. She grinned at me and took my length into her mouth, opening the back of her throat to accommodate my size.

I yelled out in a mixture of pleasure and pain when the electricity overtook me. She closed her mouth around the base of my cock and slid her mouth all the way up to the tip. The energy coming from her was sizzling out from her mouth all around. My cock grew even harder and then suddenly I was lost in a wave of light and ecstasy. I felt it twitch and then I came with a fierce yell.

She sucked and loved me with her mouth until the very last drop had come out. The energy didn't leave, though. It kept running through my body, jolting me at times. "Jesus, Babe. What are you doing to me? I'm almost embarrassed!"

She laughed and straddled my waist and bent down to kiss me. "You didn't have a choice, Carlos. I wanted you to feel how good you make me feel."

"The way I feel right now is the way you feel?" I asked, staring into her eyes and getting lost. The jolts were growing stronger and my breathing grew ragged. "Because I feel like I won't survive how good it feels, Babe."

She smiled and I felt my arms and legs release. I hooked an arm around her waist and flipped us so that she was lying beneath me. "No stopping me, this time." She shook her head and smiled at me.

I leaned down and scraped me teeth over her left breast, catching her nipple between them and closing my lips around it, sucking hard. She gasped and the energy in me hitched up a notch. I pulled back and looked at her. "Oh my God…" She nodded and smiled and I leaned down and repeated the action with her right breast. When she gasped again, the force of her arousal almost had me unglued. "How…"

"It's us. We're a part of each other. When you get excited, when I get excited, we'll both feel it in each other. Just go with it, Carlos. You're going to love it. I promise."

_If it doesn't kill me first._

"I heard that."

I grinned and kissed her, rubbing my tip against her wet center, just to test. The energy flux that happened then made me collapse. When I pulled back to look at her, her eyes were a deep royal blue.

"I'm sorry, Babe. It's been a year since I was inside you." My breathing was so ragged, I could barely speak. "I wanted to take my time." In answer, she raised her hips and took me inside of her. The pleasure and pain were so intense I froze for a moment.

"Carlos," she whispered against my lips, "don't stop."

I groaned and, placing my arms on the bed on either side of her shoulders, I slid my hands behind her head and pulled her to me so I could kiss her senseless as I started to move my hips. I pulled out and shuddered at the pleasure I felt with our bodies connected this way. When I slid back in, her hot, wet caress caused me to growl low in my throat.

I wanted to be slow and controlled, but I was beyond control. Placing a hand at her hip and hooking an arm behind her head, I pulled out and slammed into her again causing both of us to moan as our energy mingled and compounded. I moved faster and harder until we both exploded, yelling each others' names ferociously, and gripping each other as tight as we could.

I had no physical strength left in that moment. I collapsed on top of her, my face in her neck, her hands in my hair, one of my hands still gripping her hip and my other arm still clinging to her neck. As the energy slowly ebbed away, I found that my only response was to start laughing.

She joined me and we laughed, releasing the energy and recovering from the near-trauma our lovemaking had generated in us. When I was finally able, I leaned up onto my elbow and stared down into her eyes. "Is it going to be like that every time?" I was smiling, I couldn't help it.

"I don't see how it couldn't be. This is what you do to me. I can't fight it," she said simply.

"Before, it nearly knocked me into a new dimension, and it _wasn't_ pleasant," I told her.

"Yes."

"What changed?"

"You told me to trust myself and let myself feel how I felt. You said to trust you, you said you trusted me." She shrugged. "I guess I realized that the problem was that I didn't trust my own emotions regarding you. I allowed myself to live in confusion."

I kissed her and felt the spark start. "Amazing."

She smiled. "I know." She continued, "I was trying so hard to hide from you that it was like spontaneous combustion. Once I trusted that I could show you how I felt, I was able to just go with it. No more fighting it, Carlos."

"No more, Babe. I love you."

"And I love you."

Just then my cell phone chirped. I looked up and realized that long ago I had lost my grip on time. I groaned and slid off the bed. Just as I reached my phone, hers chirped. I picked up my phone and looked at her. She turned to me and our eyes met. "It's time," she said.

* * *

"What kind of shape is he in?" I asked as I walked through the door.

"I understand, sir." Stephanie said into her phone behind me.

Javi walked up to both of us. "What's wrong?"

"Wulf has Morelli and Aric," Stephanie said. "He's demanding a meeting with me."

"How did he get in?" Javi asked.

Stephanie and I looked at each other and then at Javi. "Kelvina," we said in unison.

"Kelvina?" Javi looked at us like we were crazy. "No."

"Yes, Javi. Jade told me. He was the one she was working for when she tried to kill me," I said.

"He built this organization. Why would he tear it down?" Javi asked, pain evident in his eyes. He and Kelvina had been close friends.

"His reasons are known only to himself," Stephanie said. "But for some reason, he's decided that he wants to control everyone. He's got a mini army and it's growing."

"I have a friend checking into the people he's killed. He's been targeting people who have any type of mind powers and when they refuse to, or can't, do what he wants, he kills them." I looked at Stephanie. "It's why he wants her. Because she can do exactly what he wants."

Javi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe it shouldn't surprise me," he said, fatigue in his voice. "He always wanted this place to be more than it was. He used to get angry that people were content to help and protect the innocent people around. Had some grand schemes about going to governments and offering protection."

"That's treason!" Stephanie said vehemently.

"No. IAPSA isn't country affiliated. Kelvina is from the Ukraine, but he claims no allegiance to any country," Javi said. "Even if he was in the Rangers."

"You knew this?" I asked, repulsed.

"I knew he was from the Ukraine. I didn't know that he was so flippant about his loyalty. We got into an argument about it a few years ago and our friendship has never been the same. Deep down, I wanted to believe that he was good," Javi broke off to collect his temper, "just a little eccentric."

"But he wasn't," Stephanie said looking at Javi. "And you knew it, but you denied it to yourself."

"You're getting too strong, _dulce._" He looked at her. "I can't keep you from reading my thoughts anymore."

"I'm not trying to be!" she yelled. "I didn't ask to be Superwoman!"

"But you did always want to be Wonder Woman," I said to her with a soft smile.

"Yes, but I wanted to be Wonder Woman on my terms, not on someone else's terms. And I wanted her invisible jet," she said, fatigue evident on her features. "I have to go to him. He has Morelli and Aric."

I nodded. "I know, but I'm going with you."

"It's too dangerous," she said

"No, we're in this together. I can help," I told her.

"I'll come, too,"Javi said.

"Just be careful. Wulf is using a technique that can block powers. We can get past it, and I suspect with three of us it will be hard for him to keep it up. Your mind just has to be stronger than his," I said.

They both nodded.

I looked at Stephanie. "Where is he?"

She smirked."The Empire State Building, of all places."

"He's such a drama queen," I said and we all locked eyes and then vanished from the room.


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

_Warning for some graphic content._

* * *

_**Ranger**_

The scene in front of us wasn't pretty. Joe was badly burned and unconscious on the ground. Aric had a bloody lip and burns on his body, as well. I looked at Stephanie to see how she was handling the scene, but her face was blank. The only indication that there was anything wrong was her eyes. They were hard and focused on Wulf.

Wulf laughed. "So, Ms. Plum, you've come. I'm surprised they didn't try to send that imbecilic cousin of mine."

"You know that he can't do much after what you did to him," she said quietly.

"What did he do to Diesel?" I asked her.

"Aww, how touching. Batman is worried about Boy Wonder," Wulf said in a pitying voice. "Torture does some terrible things to the mind."

"Where's Kelvina?" Stephanie asked.

"How good of you to ask," a voice from behind us said. "I've just popped in."

Stephanie didn't turn around to look at him, she didn't need to. I knew. She was constantly looking ahead into the future and I knew that she would do what was necessary. The irony struck me that I trusted her to keep everyone safe. This was new territory for me, but Kelvina was powerful and being able to look into the future, even thirty seconds, would be nice right now.

"This is over," Stephanie said. "Let Ranger take Morelli and Aric. I'll stay here with you two."

"No. I'm not going anywhere," I said.

"Ranger. They need Oliver. Take them and I'll stay here. They want to talk to me. I'm interested in what they have to say." She didn't turn around, but I knew she was asking me to trust her.

"I can take them," Javi said.

"No," Stephanie argued. "I need you here with me."

It was as if she'd punched me. I would have gotten angry, but I knew that she needed not to worry about me. How had this happened? I knew there was no point in looking into her mind. She was much more effective at blocking her thoughts than I was at trying to pry them out.

"Kelvina?" she asked.

"Yes, go, Ranger. Take them. I don't desire that they should die today," he said.

I walked over and put a hand on each and arrived in the medical wing at headquarters where I knew Oliver would be waiting. He rushed over. I looked at Aric. "Morelli needs attention first. You going to be okay?"

He nodded. "Go back. They'll need you."

I nodded and tried to get back, but I couldn't.

He looked at me. "What's going on?"

"I can't go."

"Can you go anywhere?"

I went to my apartment and then back to headquarters. "Yes, but I can't go there."

Aric shook his head. "It's Stephanie. She's keeping you out."

I could not describe, even to myself, the amount of rage that filled me at his statement. When I got back to her I would help her fight those idiots and then I would wrap my hands around her beautiful neck and shake her.

"Take care, Aric," I said and ran down to Batiste's office. I plowed through the doors. His head came up with a snap. "I need you to get me to Stephanie. She's blocking me."

He removed his reading glasses and stood. "She's with Kelvina and Wulf?"

"Yeah. Did you know about Kelvina?" I asked.

"Yes, but it's not important right now. I'll see if I can get you there." He walked over to me and laid his hand on my arm. I felt a rush and then I was on the ground at the base of the Empire State Building.

"Fuck!" I yelled and entered the building after unlocking the doors. I stepped into an elevator and rode up to the eighty sixth floor observation deck. When I finally reached them, the scene before me had my heart clenched in fear. Kelvina was holding Stephanie up by her neck with one hand. She was struggling with him to release his hands.

She finally landed a blow to his head and he threw her down in his pain. She flipped up onto her feet and began fighting him again. Javi was working Wulf and faring much better, so I went to Stephanie's aid. She did a series of spinning kicks and twists, pummeling Kelvina in the chest and head. He went down like a sack of rocks.

I stopped short as I saw her pull out our own soul killer and aim it at Kelvina. "No!" I shouted. "Stephanie, stop. You don't have the right!"

"I have the right, Carlos." Kelvina didn't move. He stared at her.

"You really do have the right, you bitch!" He was angry and spitting. "Fucking bastards!" he howled. "Deciding they have the right to decide who lives or dies! I choose not to go quietly!"

I saw, in horror, as Kelvina pulled out his own weapon and aimed it at her. She was unfazed. She stood, watching him, weapon aimed.

"I've seen your future, Plum. Have you seen it?" Kelvina asked.

Stephanie nodded. What the hell were they talking about?

"So you know that I'm going to allow Wulf to kill your precious Carlos right now, correct?" he asked with a sneer.

She nodded again.

"Wulf," Kelvina said.

"Yes, sir."

"Kill him.

Wulf turned toward me, drawing his weapon.

"You don't spare him, you lose me," Stephanie said.

Wulf stopped and looked at Kelvina.

"I've seen what happens. Kill him." Wulf advanced. I worked to freeze time, but the block was too strong.

In an instant, Stephanie was up on the low wall at the edge of the observation deck. "Stop, Wulf."

He stopped and we all stood, staring at her.

"Stephanie…" I said, wondering what she was doing.

"You see, knowing the future means I can make a decision to change it. The way I see it, you need me." She smiled a humorless smile at Kelvina. "So, if even one hair on his head is harmed, I'm jumping off this building."

"You won't, I know that you'll be with me, helping me." He turned to Wulf.

"Have it your way," Stephanie said. She turned and in an instant the cable and steel barricade was gone and she leapt over the side of the building.

"Nooooo!" I screamed. Panic rose in me. I ran forward, shoving past them and I froze time. I didn't care if it was because they were momentarily sidetracked, if I had finally overpowered them mentally, or if it was because of love and pure adrenaline, but I did it. I looked at Kelvina and Wulf who were frozen, watching the spot where she had been standing.

I got up on the wall and looked, expecting to see her floating mid-air somewhere, but she was nowhere to be seen. Remembering that we were quite a ways up, I rationalized that she could have been shifted over somewhat in the fierce wind out tonight. I walked along the wall, looking and searching, but I didn't see her.

My range was far enough to have stopped her. It had to be. I thought I hadn't waited too long, but had I? _Oh God!_ "Babe!" I yelled, frantically looking. I didn't see her, she wasn't there. "Oh shit, Babe!" My voice was strangled with fear and panic.

I pulled out my cell and called Batiste. He answered. "Stephanie jumped off the building. I need someone here. We have to find her. This place is frozen. She's out there somewhere."

He was quiet.

"Did you hear me? It's dark and I need someone to look for her!" I could hear the panic in my voice.

"You don't see her?"

"I'm on a very tall building and it's night. There are lots of lights, but she'd be easy to miss," I said. _Calm down, it will be better if you just calm down._

"You know that as soon as someone re-enters your space, time will resume. If she is frozen in the sky, she wouldn't be as soon as they got there," he said. "Did you neutralize the targets?"

"No. Is that all you care about?"

"No, but you need to do it. The Board issued the decree. They're dead," Batiste said quietly. He sounded as if he was giving up.

"No! You fucker! We're going to find her!" I screamed.

"Carlos." It was all he needed to say. I knew that if I kept time frozen, she'd be alive but hovering somewhere above death. And that's _if_ I had done it in time. As soon as someone new entered my space, unmentionable or not, time would resume. If I left this space and went outside of my range, time would resume.

I sank to my knees. She'd jumped to save me and I couldn't save her. I couldn't help her. Had she been counting on it? Would the last thing she remembered be that I had failed her again?

Mustering up all of my strength, I walked over and pressed my weapon to Wulf's head. I squeezed my trigger twice. When I released time, they would both die with her. I grabbed Wulf's weapon and removed Kelvina's weapon and then placed the gun against his forehead. Then I released time.

I heard the bullets hit Wulf and the sound of him slumping over. Kelvina looked into my eyes and whispered, "No." I pumped the rest of my clip into his head. His blood spattered all over my gun, all over me, and all over the floor. I looked at Wulf and saw the opening in the side of his head, brain matter and blood seeping out.

I looked down at Kelvina. His face was unrecognizable. It was the last time I would kill for her and it didn't matter. Aric appeared beside me and looked around. He walked over to the bodies and sent them away by pressing a hand to each of their arms and disposing of them.

I handed him their weapons and gave him mine. "Just hold it for me. I shouldn't have it on me right now," I said.

He nodded, not saying a word.

I felt a hand on my back and turned to see Javi looking at me intently. "Don't," I said.

He slid his hand up and squeezed my shoulder and then disappeared. The cleanup crew arrived to return the building to its former state. I lowered myself to the floor and sat as they changed things back. The wire cabling and steel frames were back in place, the blood was gone, the security cameras were now being worked on to erase the scene. In all it took about five minutes.

One of the crew walked over to me. "Mr. Mañoso?"

I looked at him. "We need you to go now. We have to set the cameras."

I nodded and stood. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. I would never feel alive again anywhere. And then I had the right spot in mind and I visualized it. The minute I looked around, I knew that I had picked the right spot. I sat down in the sand and watched the waves crashing onto the shore as the moon twinkled and flashed out on the water.

_How on earth do I go on?_ I picked up my phone and dialed Batista. As soon as he answered, I said, "I'm offline. I'll call you when I'm ready."

"That's fine, Carlos."

I hung up and stared out at the waves.


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

_**Ranger**_

I watched the waves swell and decrease in the bright moonlight as I thought about tonight's events. I couldn't bring myself to go down to the ground at the Empire State Building, I didn't want to see what happened to Stephanie. I knew she couldn't have survived the jump, no matter how strong her abilities were. There were rules, limitations that couldn't be surpassed by anyone.

I sat with my feet on the sand in front of me, my legs bent at the knees and my elbows on them with my hands dangling down, lifeless. I thought about what choices I would have made to be with her. What I would have changed in my life. I knew the first thing I personally wanted to do now was to go out and hunt down the rest of Kelvina's followers. I would finish that for her.

The pain in my chest was making itself known. I had been trying to ignore it, but it rose until it was a full-blown problem for me. I'd never allowed myself to become so emotional that I'd succumbed to it before. Then again, I hadn't ever known anyone like Stephanie Plum before. I felt my pulse racing and the pain spreading. Finally, when I couldn't take anymore, I shot to my feet and let out a loud gut-wrenching roar.

"Wow, that was impressive."

I turned around and scoped the area surrounding me at the words, but I didn't see anyone. Was I imagining it? "Babe?"

There was no one here. The beach was empty. It had sounded so real. I had wanted it to be real. I walked out to the edge of the surf, the water lapping at my boots. I took another few steps and the surge went to my knees. A few more steps and it was at my thighs. I went in until the water was chest level. I just wanted to feel something that could move me, even if it was only physically.

I heard a voice in my ear. "You should get out of the water, it's cold."

I looked around and no one was there. But it was _her_ voice. I turned around and looked up on the beach, but didn't see anyone. But further down, about a half mile away, I saw a lone figure walking in the moonlight. I could make out a slim form walking my direction.

Realizing that any person passing by who saw me in the water fully clothed would think I was crazy, I made my way back to shore. When I looked for the figure it was gone. The voice came back. "You need some warm clothes, it's chilly tonight."

I didn't bother looking around this time. I knew no one would be there. I turned to look for the figure and it was closer. I couldn't tell who it was, but the walk told me it was a woman. Knowing in my heart who it was, I began running toward her.

She continued walking slowly and I was running. The closer I got, it looked less like a person and more like a short pole with a really big flag that had been tied down. How could I have gotten so confused?

"You're either thinking too hard or not hard enough, Carlos." Her voice. It washed over me. She wasn't here, but I was hearing her. I hung my head and put my hands over my face, rubbing it, trying to clear my head. "I thought you would come back to Rangeman after they were dead."

I shook my head. "I don't want to see anyone." Now I was talking to the voice.

"Not even me?" She sounded hurt.

"Babe, I hear you, but you're gone." This was it. I was going to see a shrink. I'd finally lost my mind. Losing Stephanie can do that to a man. I'd have to ask Morelli about it.

"I don't think that would be a wise decision. He's not very happy with us at the moment," her voice said.

"Stop reading my mind. Okay, I realize you're _in_ my mind, but stop anyway." I removed my hands and looked out at the ocean.

"Are you okay?" The voice was behind me.

"I'm never going to be okay again," I said quietly.

"I thought maybe I could make you feel better." There was a smile in the voice.

I looked around again. There was no one here.

"Look up, Carlos."

"What?" I looked around and then looked up and fell backward onto my ass. "What the _fuck_?"

Stephanie smiled at me. She was in the air, actually floating in the air. Wait! If she was floating in the air, then she wasn't real.

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings, Carlos," she said with a gentle smile. "I'm real. It's me." She lowered herself and put her feet on the ground.

I sat up and looked at her. "Babe?" She held out her hand and I took it and it felt like a real hand.

"Babe, am I, uh, okay?"

"I would have thought you'd ask me if _I_ was okay. I was the one that jumped off a very high building, after all," she said with a smile. Then her face grew serious. "I'm sorry that I worried you. I couldn't tell you, there was no way I could tell you what I saw in the future. Not without giving it away."

"But, Kelvina…" I was confused. I had a headache and even considered taking some Ibuprofen, something I never did.

"I gave him that future to see. I messed it up. See, I found out that I can do that. As soon as we set foot on the observation deck, I knew what he was doing. I knew he was watching the future, so I just sort of toyed with his vision a bit." She smiled. "Once he was satisfied that what he was seeing would happen, he was putty in my hands. He played right into it."

I stared at her. "You're fine."

"Yes, I am. I'm sorry. I saw myself flying, Ranger. When I was up there, I knew that I had to jump. I knew that if I didn't, they would kill you and I wouldn't survive that. I also knew that if I was out of the equation, they wouldn't care anything about you. You were collateral." She grabbed my other hand and kissed both of my palms.

"You were gone so long…"

"Well, I couldn't come back into your space. I saw that your anger and fear for me would spur you into action and help you overcome Wulf's block. I saw you freeze time, and I'm sorry, I saw your pain, too; but there wasn't a way past it. Kelvina had to die and I wasn't in a position to kill him anymore. I didn't want to put you in jeopardy by coming back too early." She inched closer. "Also, I've been waiting a lifetime to fly. I just let myself enjoy it for a little while."

I nodded. "I can understand that." I put my hands on her waist and stared intently at her.

"When I found out that Kelvina and Wulf were dead, I came back, but you were gone. I have to tell you, I was so worried. I knew you thought I was dead. I didn't know what you would do!" she exclaimed, getting excited. "So I went to your apartment and waited for you, but you didn't show."

I tugged her closer and held her tightly against me. I was starting to believe maybe she was real. "I am real, Carlos." She kissed my cheek and I felt the pulse of her energy begin. "I just popped to you, but you had some things to think about, so I waited just a bit. When I tried talking to you, you ignored me. It hurt a little." She smiled softly.

"I didn't know it was really you. You weren't anywhere I looked…"

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted you to see me flying and I didn't realize early enough the state of your mind. I have been trying to respect your thoughts by not reading your mind. I finally got curious, though, and when I realized where your thought process was I tried to stop you." She sighed and snuggled in. "But you wouldn't believe it was me. I didn't want to just pop up in front of you. I needed you to get to the point where you would believe what you saw."

"When did you find out you could fly?"

"Tonight, in my vision of the future, I saw myself flying down the side of the building and all over the place, so I knew. See, I had a lot of faith that I could do it, thanks to you." She reached up and kissed me lightly on the lips. "I can fly, Ranger. I just needed a big enough garage to jump off."

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her, accepting the painful pleasure it brought. "I couldn't even think about functioning without you. I lost my whole world then. I should be angry with you."

Tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you wait. I didn't get it soon enough."

I smiled softly and pulled her close. "I'm too happy you're alive to be that angry with you." Her lips were amazingly soft when I pressed mine to hers. I felt our spark grow and build, and then pulled back and held her close, nuzzling her neck. "God, Babe. I'm never going to be able to get enough of you again."

She smiled. "Want to go for a ride, Batman?"

I raised my eyebrow. "How will that work?"

"Hmm." She looked at me, her eyes sparkling. "Get behind me and put your arms around my waist."

I stepped behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. "Hunh," I said.

"What?"

"I was just wondering if you were willing to go for coed naked flying sometime." I grinned.

"Let's see how coed clothed flying works, first," She answered and she shot us up into the sky. "I never, ever thought I could really fly, not since I was six, Carlos!"

"Shit!" I yelled. "What the hell?"

"Just hang on!" she yelled.

"It's a good thing we're over water!" I shouted.

* * *

We got back to headquarters a couple of hours later. Batiste was waiting at the doors to the medical wing when we arrived to check on Morelli and Aric. "So, you made if off the building in one piece?"

Stephanie smiled. "Yes, I did."

"How are the patients?" I asked, keeping my hand at her waist.

"Better," Batiste said. "Go see them."

"How's Diesel?" Stephanie asked.

Batiste compressed his lips and shook his head. "He's not good. But he will be fine, eventually."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Can anything be done?"

"Time, Stephanie," Batiste answered. "Just give him time. Physically he's fine, but he's taking a sabbatical and spending time with his wife."

"Wife?" she asked, dropping her jaw.

Batiste nodded. "They've been married a long time and were having some issues for a while. However, I guess getting tortured and practically killed can change your perspective, hmm?"

She nodded. "If you speak to him, give him my best wishes, please."

"And mine," I said. "That crazy bastard was a good partner. He drove me nuts, but I could trust him." And I liked him a lot better now that I knew he had a wife.

'Jealous,' Stephanie said in my head.

'I thought you weren't going to read my thoughts?' I cocked my head sideways at her.

'I couldn't resist after we found out about the wife.' I could feel the smile in her words.

'Babe.'

Batiste just shook his head.

"Do we know the others that have to be found?" I asked.

"They're being hunted, and before you ask any details, I'm going to tell you that you both should take a break," he said with a smile. "It's been a long year. Come see me in a couple of weeks, I'll have your assignment for you."

"Assignment?" I asked.

"Yes, singular, Carlos. You two will be partners. I'm not sure the world is ready for the two of you to be separate again for a while." He chuckled.

"Thanks." Stephanie smiled.

"Let's go see the guys," I said.

We went into the medical wing. Morelli was sitting on the edge of his bed looking tired, but much better than last time we saw him. His burns were gone, but his eyes were wary. He looked up when we approached, his eyes settled on Stephanie and took in my hand at her waist.

"Cupcake," he said.

She broke away from me to hug him. "Joe. I'm sorry about all of this."

He hugged her and smiled sadly. "It's okay. It's been the strangest year. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise."

She gave him a confused look.

"I mean that I learned that my life would go on just fine without you around. I always thought we were meant to be together," he glanced at me, "but I never saw you as happy when you were with me as you are with Carlos."

Both Stephanie and I raised our eyebrows at him calling me by my first name. "Uh, thanks," I said.

"No, I'm sorry. I've known it for a long time. I guess I had been in love with you too long and I started thinking of you as mine. I let it become this competition, but," he stood up and gathered her into his arms for a tight hug, which I wasn't so crazy about, "I'm not willing to sacrifice your happiness for mine."

I decided I was crazier about that idea. I smiled at him and held up my fist. He hit his to mine and gave me a handshake. Stephanie just shook her head at us, watching our hands. "Come on, Babe. I'll teach you sometime."

She hugged Joe. "Thanks, Joe. I do love you, you'll always be important to me."

"I know, Cupcake." He kissed her cheek and stepped back.

She walked over to Aric who was standing next to his bed. He was smiling at her in a way that I raised a strong desire to beat my chest and throw her over my shoulder. She reached up and gave him a tight hug. When he slid his hands up to cup her face and kissed her, I nearly came unglued, but then she backed up and gave him a pat on the cheek. "Thanks for all of your help."

He nodded. "Anytime."

He held out his hand to me and I shook it. He said, "You're a lucky man, Carlos. She's top notch."

"I know." I smiled into my Babe's eyes and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'll never forget it, either."

"Better not." She kissed me. "Ready to fly off into the sunset, Carlos?"

"I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
